By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief. Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog. Tel: 216-659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Coleman is a 22-year political, legal and investigative journalist who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Cleveland Cavaliers lost game six Tuesday night at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, 105-97, and handed the 2015 NBA championship title to the Golden State Warriors, and bringing the Warriors their fourth NBA title, and the first in a forty-year drought.
Cavaliers head coach David Blatt was gracious in defeat.
"I want to thank the players who gave so much and never quit, never made excuses, never gave up and gave the best possible season that they could," said Blatt.
Led by point guard Stephen Curry, 27, the Warriors won the last three games, and ultimately the series 4-2.
After complimenting his team, and the Cavaliers for a well done, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, a rookie coach in his first year like Blatt, said after Tuesday's game, simply that "I have been blessed."
The finals win by the Western Conference champions, and the defeat of the Cavaliers, the Eastern Conference series winner, shattered the dream of a national pro basketball championship for the largely Black major metropolitan city of Cleveland, and for Cavaliers megastar LeBron James, 30, who left the team as a free agent in 2010 to join the Miami Heat, and returned in 2014 after leading the Heat to two of its three NBA championship titles.
A native of Akron Ohio, a city some 35 miles south of Cleveland, James finished with 32 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists, not enough though to force a final game seven of the competitive series.
Andre Iguodala, who defended James on the court most of the series, scored 25 points in game six as did Curry, was named the finals most valuable player.
Cavaliers fans in general were only moderately optimistic of winning the championship title after the second and third ranked best players on the team, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, got injured, Love in game one of the first-round series, and Irving in game one of the finals.(www.clevelandurbannews.com) / (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
