June 8- Golden State Warriors win the 2018 NBA Championship
2018- On this date in Sports History, the Golden State Warriors won the 2018 NBA Title. They beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Four to win the Championship. The Warriors won the game easily by a score of 108-85 to finish the sweep of the Cavaliers. They started out the game scoring 34 points in the first quarter and barely trailed the rest of the game. Steph Curry led the Warriors with 37 points including seven three pointers. Kevin Durant had a triple double with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson would add 11 points and 10 points, respectively . For the Cavaliers, LeBron James had 23 points and Kevin Love added 13.
Golden State won all four games of the series by an average of 15 points. Cleveland’s best chance at winning a game came in Game 1 when LeBron James scored 51 points. After making the first free throw, Cleveland’s George Hill missed the second one with the game tied and four seconds left. Although J.R Smith gets the offensive rebound, he dribbled the ball out after thinking they were ahead. The game went to overtime where the Warriors scored the first nine points and ultimately won the game by ten. They’d win the next three games and finish the sweep of the Cavaliers to become the 2018 NBA Champions.
Golden State’s 2018 NBA Title meant they were back to back NBA champions for the first time since 2013. It was also their third title in four years. The 2018 NBA Finals were the fourth straight finals for head coach Steve Kerr and the Warriors. All four finals matchups were against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors won the title in 2015, 2017, and 2018. The Cavaliers beat the Warriors in 2016 in Game 7 of the Finals. Golden State would go on to make the 2019 NBA Finals to make it to five straight Finals. However, they would fall to Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors four games to two. Golden State’s five straight NBA Finals appearances is the second most in NBA history. It only trails the Boston Celtics who made 10 straight from 1957-1967.
Kevin Durant was named the 2018 NBA Finals MVP. It was his second NBA Finals MVP as he also won it in 2017. In 2016, after losing to Golden State in the Western Conference Finals, Durant left Oklahoma City and joined the Warriors. He helped lead them to back to back NBA Titles and he was named back to back NBA Finals MVP.
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Sources:
“Warriors Complete Sweep of Cavaliers for Third NBA Title in Four Years.” CNBC, CNBC, 9 June 2018
“2018 NBA Finals - Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors.” Basketball Reference