LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers defied betting on basketball odds and made history last night, winning game 7 of the NBA Finals 93-89 to become the first team to come back from a 1-3 disadvantage – and winning the first major sports trophy for the Forest City in a exactly a gazillion years. And they did all of the above while facing the best regular season team in the history of the NBA. SBG Global sportsbook salutes the 2016 NBA champions. Game 7 of the championship series kept an entire country entranced – even president Barack Obama stopped doing whatever presidents do to watch the final minutes of the postseason.
The King had a triple double with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, while Kyrie Irving added 26 points and 6 rebounds, and Kevin Love contributed 9 points and 14 rebounds. Love went from allegedly being left hanging when attempting to high five James, to being embraced by a teary eyed Finals MVP at the conclusion of the game.
Had the Cavaliers lost the game, the forward would have certainly been the scapegoat – Cleveland fans betting on basketball were already asking for his head when the Cavaliers seemed to play better without him that with him. One can only assume that it’s all forgiven and the Love-hating will cease – for a while at least.
On the other side of things, the finger-pointing among Warriors fans will most likely be directed at Draymond Green, who was erratic at best and suspended at worst. The man said it himself; if he’d played game 5, they would have won. And they would have too, if he had not only played but played like he did last night. Green had 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Alack, it was too little, too late. League MVP Stephen Curry scored 17 points and his supposed brother (they don’t even have the same last name) Klay Thompson added 14 points. To what can we attribute these lackluster performances? Surely Mrs. Curry has quite a few theories to account for losing three in a row including two at home, but we’ll have to file those under X.
All things considered, should we call it a comeback? LeBron’s been here for years – though a few of those years were spent in Miami winning championships for another city. Still, did the Cavs win the title, or did the Warriors lose? And does it make any different to fans betting on basketball at this point?
Not to take away anything from Cleveland, but like Exaggerator in the Belmont Stakes, Golden State simply ran out of the steam in the end. Kudos to the Cavs for making the best of the opportunity. And now we only have to wait 126 days, 9 hours, 9 minutes, and 14 seconds until the new season starts and you can bet on NBA again at SBG Global sportsbook.