The Greatest Moments of the Cavaliers-Warriors Rivalry

What were once two obscure franchises have become the NBA’s two biggest powerhouses. The Cavs and the Warriors have faced off in the last four NBA Finals, and have produced some iconic moments in NBA history. Whether it’s LeBron James’ individual dominance or the “Big Four” working together, there’s always a storyline.

Kevin Durant Cavs Warriors Christmas 2017
USA Today Sports

Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrates in front of Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 99-92.

Kevin Durant Cavs Warriors Christmas 2017

What were once two obscure franchises have become the NBA’s two biggest powerhouses.

The idea of the Cavaliers and Warriors partnering for the NBA’s next great rivalry seemed unlikely—if not laughable—four years ago at this time. The two teams play in different conferences and in cities three time zones apart, and neither have historically been model franchises. Before their first Finals meeting in 2015, the Warriors hadn’t won a championship since 1975, and the Cavs had never won one.

Fast forward four years, and the Cavs and Warriors have become this generation’s Lakers and Celtics. The teams have now met in the NBA Finals in each of the last four seasons, marking the first time that any of the four major sports have had the same championship matchup four times in a row. The four matchups have provided plenty of great moments—and bad blood between the two teams.

Since a Warriors-Cavs Finals matchup is pretty much a given at the end of every season, the teams’ bad blood has often played out on—and off—the court. Whether it’s Draymond Green targeting LeBron’s nether regions in the Finals or the Cavs mocking the “Warriors Blew a 3-1 Lead” memes at a team Halloween party, there’s ample drama to go along with the NBA’s most prominent rivalry.

That drama is almost always accompanied with fantastic basketball. Although there was some understandable fatigue about two teams playing in the Finals together for the fourth straight year, the excitement of this year’s series almost made a fourth installment worth it—almost. Still, despite the pain of witnessing a four-game sweep, the relationship between the Cavs and the Warriors continues to hold a place in the hearts of NBA fans everywhere.

So with no shortage of great games to choose from, let’s take a look back at the 15 greatest Cavs-Warriors moments:

15. Andre Iguodala Starts Starting, 2015

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Andre Iguodala had played in 94 games in the season leading up to Game 4 of the 2015 Finals, with a grand total of zero starts. The decision to “go small” and start Iguodala in Game 4 seemed like a risky one, as the 6-foot-6 Iguodala would be replacing seven-footer Andrew Bogut in the starting lineup. And with the Warriors facing a 2-1 series deficit, there was a lot riding on this call. 

But the move paid dividends for Golden State; Iguodala averaged 20.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.0 steals over the final three games of the series, all of which the Warriors won. Iguodala’s strongest contribution to the series was his defense on LeBron James: James had averaged 41.0 points over the first three games of the series, but just 30.7 over the final three. Iguodala won NBA Finals MVP for this contribution to the Warriors’ championship.

14. Kyrie Saves Christmas, 2016

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The Cavs-Warriors rivalry isn’t limited to their NBA Finals matchups. They’ve also had a few spectacular regular-season meetings as well. The best of these regular-season matchups came on Christmas Day in 2016, when Kyrie Irving worked around tight defense by Klay Thompson to nail a game-winner with just 3.4 seconds left. 

The Warriors would get the best of the Cavs in that season’s Finals, but the loss brought back painful memories of that blown 3-to-1 lead.

13. Steph’s Stepback Three, 2015

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The “Baby-Faced Assassin” assassinated whatever hopes the Cavs had of winning Game 5 with an impressive stepback 3-pointer in the game’s final minutes. This play was vintage Curry: dazzling moves, authoritative handles, and a perfectly-executed 3-point shot to give the Warriors a ten-point lead. 

Curry finished the game with 37 points, including a solid 7-for-13 showing from downtown, and the win gave the Warriors a commanding 3-2 series lead. Golden State would win in the following game to earn the franchise’s first championship in 40 years.

12. The Delly Game, 2015

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Matthew Dellavedova was a relatively anonymous player before bursting onto the scene in the 2015 Finals. He had gone undrafted in 2013, averaged just under 21 minutes per game that regular season, and posted just 4.8 points per game. “Delly” had never been a regular starter, but thanks Kyrie Irving’s knee injury he was about to become one. 

While starting Game 3, Dellavedova dropped 20 points, which helped catapult the Cavs to a narrow 96-91 victory. This game helped Dellavedova earn more playing time the following season, and later a four-year, $38 million contract with the Bucks.

11. Warriors Win First Title in 40 Years, 2015

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They aren’t a long-suffering bunch anymore, but Warriors fans waited a long time to see their team win a title. Golden State made the playoffs just six times in 35 seasons from 1977-78 through 2011-12, and won just three playoff series during that time frame.

That all began to change during the “Splash Brothers” era in 2013, when the Warriors made it back to the playoffs. They became full-fledged title contenders by 2015, when they won their first in 40 years, and they haven’t looked back since.

Although much of the fanbase is now occupied by bandwagoners, the OG Golden State fans must really be enjoying the current team after years of losing—and literal choking.

10. KD Drops 39, 2017

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Two games after his clutch 3-point shot gave the Warriors a commanding series lead, Kevin Durant helped close out the Finals with a dominant Game 5 performance. 

The newest Warriors superstar recorded 39 points, six rebounds, and five assists, shooting an impressive .700 from the field and a whopping .625 from 3-point range. Durant’s performance here helped catapult the Warriors to a 129-120 series-clinching win. 

After the Warriors’ second title in three seasons, Durant was named NBA Finals MVP. He finished the Finals with averages of 35.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, demonstrating to the world that he didn’t come to Golden State to be a sidekick.

9. LeBron’s Dominant Triple-Double, 2015

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LeBron’s 2015 Finals may have been the best individual Finals performance by a player on a losing team in NBA history. James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists per game as he single-handedly kept things competitive for the Cavs, who were without Kevin Love for the entire series and without Kyrie Irving for the final five games. 

The King’s best performance of the series unquestionably came in Game 2, when he posted a 39-point triple-double. LeBron had 39 points, 16 rebounds, and 11 assists in 50 minutes to give the Cavs a 95-93 overtime win, and tie the series at one game apiece. That the Cavs didn’t get swept in this series is a true testament to LeBron’s greatness.

8. Steph Curry’s 3-Point Record, 2018

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At just 30 years old, Stephen Curry has already placed his name all over the 3-pointer record books. Curry owns four of the five seasons with the most 3-pointers by an individual (Klay Thompson has the other), and he’s already seventh in career 3-pointers. 

Curry broke another 3-point record in Game 2 in 2018, as he hit 33 points on a record-breaking nine 3-pointers, including one from well behind the line while facing air-tight defense from Kevin Love. The previous record was set by Ray Allen, who hit eight 3-pointers in Game 2 of the 2010 Finals for the Celtics.

7. Kyrie and LeBron’s 40/40 Club, 2016

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The Warriors had a massive hole in their defensive regimen with Draymond Green suspended for Game 5, and the Cavs seized the opportunity. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 82 of the Cavs’ 112 points, witheach player scoring 41. In doing so, LeBron and Kyrie would become the first teammates in NBA Finals history to score 40 points each, as the Cavs took a 112-97 victory to keep the series alive.

6. Kevin Durant Puts Things on Ice, 2017

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Kevin Durant’s pull-up three with 45 seconds left in Game 3 essentially ended the Cavs’ hopes of a repeat. K.D.’s shot gave the Warriors a 114-113 lead, putting them ahead for the final time in the game. Golden State ended the game on an 11-0 run after the Cavs held a six-point lead with 2:25 to go. 

Durant finished this game with 31 points on a whopping .556 from the field, demonstrating why he would win Finals MVP just a few nights later. The Warriors’ win here gave Golden State a commanding 3-0 series lead. And no, the “Warriors Blew a 3-0 Lead” was not about to become a meme.

5. J.R. Forgets the Score, 2018 Finals

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The one time J.R. Smith passes up a shot…

J.R. Smith’s ball-hogging tendencies are well documented. There’s nothing J.R. Smith loves more than a highly-contested three with ten seconds left on the shot clock. But the one time the Cavs needed Smith to shoot more than ever, he passed up the shot.

In a tie game with 4.8 seconds left, Smith grabbed the rebound on George Hill’s missed free throw, and took the ball out without attempting a shot, only passing the ball when it was too late. It appeared as though Smith thought the Cavs were winning, and he was trying to run down the clock. Instead, the Cavs went into overtime, where they were ultimately defeated by the Warriors. J.R. may have cost the Cavs the game, but he provided meme culture with an all-time great meme.

4. Draymond Green Goes Low, 2016

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We might be talking about a Warriors four-peat right now had Draymond Green not been suspended for Game 5 in 2016.

Things got chippy between the Cavs and Warriors in Game 4, particularly between Draymond Green and LeBron James. The two got into a bit of a shoving match on the court, which culminated in Green taking aim at LeBron’s crotch. And while the Cavs might not have known it at the time, Green’s crotch-shot attempt was maybe the best thing to happen to the franchise since it drafted LeBron.

It looked like the series was just about over after the Warriors got out to their storied three-games-to-one series lead. But Green’s antics earned him a suspension in Game 5, which the Cavs won. All of a sudden, the 3-to-1 lead had been narrowed to 3-to-2, with the Cavs going into a Game 6 at home.

3. Steph Throws His Mouthpiece, 2016

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With the Cavs just minutes away from erasing the Warriors’ 3-to-1 lead and forcing a Game 7, Stephen Curry lost it. He fouled out of the game— the first time he’d done so since 2013—and tossed his mouthpiece into the stands, hitting a fan. Golden State’s 115-101 loss in Game 6 was the peak of frustration for the Warriors, who had failed for the second straight game to close out a series that looked for so long like it was theirs. And Curry let it show.

The Curry family’s frustration was not limited to Steph, however. His wife, Ayesha, infamously tweeted that the NBA was “absolutely rigged” following her husband’s sixth foul. Which, let’s be real, is something every basketball fan has thought at some point or another.

2. The Block, 2016

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There have been an untold millions of blocks in professional basketball over the years. But only one can ever be known as “The Block.” 

LeBron’s sprinting rejection of an Andre Iguodala layup to keep Game 7 tied remains one of the most iconic moments of his NBA career. It was the culmination of perhaps the best individual performance in NBA Finals history, as LeBron led all players in each of the five major categories. He isn’t typically known for blocks, but on this play he exerted full effort to track that ball down before it went in. 

This block would give Kyrie Irving a chance to put Cleveland ahead minutes later.

1. Kyrie’s Three, 2016

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It’s hard to imagine a more high-pressure in-game situation than a tie game with less than minute left in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. 

Kyrie Irving had the ball in that situation, with the chance to take the most important shot in Cavs history—and one of the most important shots in NBA history. He took the shot, and hit it. 

Kyrie’s go-ahead three tipped the 20th and final lead change of Game 7 in the Cavs’ favor, moving one of the all-time great games in NBA history to its glorious end for Cleveland. The Cavs’ win in this series was as improbable as it was impressive; Cleveland had fallen behind 3-to-1 against the best regular-season team in NBA history to win the city its first major professional sports championship since 1964. Game 7 of the 2016 Finals stands as the high-water mark of the Cavs-Warriors rivalry, and one of the best NBA Finals of all time. And even if they do match up in the Finals for another few seasons beyond this one, it will be tough to top this series as far as excitement is concerned.

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