The 2018 NBA Finals was the championship series of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

's (NBA) 2017–18 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this

best-of-seven playoff There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly ...

, the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

swept the defending Eastern Conference champion

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

four games to zero. The Warriors became the 7th NBA franchise to win back-to-back championships, joining the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, and

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. This year's Finals was the first time in any of North America's four major professional sports leagues that the same two teams met for the championship four years in a row. This was also the first time that a team was swept in the NBA Finals since

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, in which the Cavaliers were also the losing team.

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

, in his eighth consecutive NBA Finals appearance and ninth appearance overall, suffered the second Finals sweep of his career, having also played in the 2007 Finals. Warriors small forward

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

was named

NBA Finals MVP The Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award (formerly known as the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1969 NBA Finals. The award is decided by a panel of e ...

for the second straight year. The Warriors entered the series having home-court advantage with a regular season record of , compared to the Cavaliers' regular season record of . Entering the matchup, the Warriors were also noted by various sports media outlets as one of the biggest NBA Finals favorites in recent history. The 2018 Finals began on May 31 and ended on June 8. The series broke the record set by the 2014 NBA Finals for highest average scoring differential per game (15.0) for an NBA Finals series.

Background

Cleveland Cavaliers

This was the

' fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals, and fifth appearance overall. This was also the eighth consecutive NBA Finals appearance for Cavaliers small forward

Prior to the 2017–18 season, All-Star point guard

Kyrie Irving Kyrie Andrew Irving (; lkt, Ȟéla, italic=no, ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected ...

requested to be traded away from the Cavaliers. Although James was against the idea of trading him away, the Cavaliers agreed to Irving's request, trading him to the

in exchange for point guard Isaiah Thomas, small forward

Jae Crowder Corey Jae Crowder (born July 6, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Not being heavily recruited out of high school, Crowder committed to South Georgia Technical ...

, center

Ante Žižić Ante Toni Žižić (; born 4 January 1997) is a Croatian professional basketball player for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) and the Euroleague. He was selected 23rd overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2016 NBA draft ...

, the first round pick from the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

in the

2018 NBA Draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

and the

's 2020 second round pick. Miami's second round pick was added as compensation after Isaiah Thomas failed his physical. Other major changes included shooting guard

Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA champi ...

signing with the Cavaliers, thus reuniting with James from their time together on the Big Three-era Miami Heat, and the signing of point guard Derrick Rose to a one-year contract. On February 8, 2018 – just before the NBA trade deadline – the Cavaliers radically changed their roster in a little more than an hour, acquiring George Hill,

Rodney Hood Rodney Michael Hood (born October 20, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Mississippi State and Duke befor ...

, Jordan Clarkson, and

Larry Nance Jr. Larry Donnell Nance Jr. (born January 1, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wyoming Cowboys, where he was considered ...

in exchange for Thomas, Rose, Crowder, Wade,

Channing Frye Channing Thomas Frye (born May 17, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. A power forward- center, he played college basketball for the University of Arizona. He was drafted eighth overall by the New York Knicks in the 200 ...

Iman Shumpert Iman Asante Shumpert ( ; born June 26, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Shumpert was selected by the New York Knicks with the 17th overall pic ...

, and their own 2018 first-round pick. Multiple writers argued at the time that the trades made the Cavaliers significantly better. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 50–32 record, securing the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers defeated the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in seven games in the first round, swept the top-seeded

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and defeated the

in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Golden State Warriors

This was the

' fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals. During the 2017–18 offseason, the Warriors re-signed their core players, including point guard Stephen Curry to a five-year contract worth $201 million, and

to a two-year, $53 million contract. Golden State also re-signed Andre Iguodala,

Shaun Livingston Shaun Patrick Livingston (born September 11, 1985) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. Livingston entered the league directly out of high school and was selected fourth by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2004 NBA dr ...

Zaza Pachulia Zaza Pachulia ( ka, ზაზა ფაჩულია; born Zaur Pachulia; February 10, 1984) is a Georgian professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the Nati ...

, and David West. A major free agent acquired during the offseason was guard Nick Young. The Warriors finished the 2017–18 regular season with a 58–24 record, winning the Pacific Division and securing the 2nd seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, Golden State defeated the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

in five games in the first round, eliminated the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

in five games in the Western Conference semifinals, and defeated the 65-win

in seven games in the Western Conference Finals. The Warriors entered the series as heavy favorites, aiming to repeat back-to-back titles after losing their quest in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

The Warriors won the regular season series 2–0.

Series summary

Game summaries

:''All times are in

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...

( UTC−4)''

Game 1

Klay Thompson Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A four-time NBA champion with the Warriors, he is a five-time NBA All-St ...

of the Warriors suffered a leg injury in the first quarter, but returned to the game in the second quarter. With the score tied at 107 in the last five seconds of regulation,

J. R. Smith Earl Joseph "J. R." Smith III (born September 9, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Smith played high school basketball at New Jers ...

of the Cavaliers collected an offensive rebound following a missed free throw, but dribbled the ball towards

half court Half-court is a term used in basketball for the middle of the court. A half court shot taken from the half-court, referred to as a half-court shot, is a shot taken from beyond the 3-pointer line as defined by a semicircular line before the 2-pointe ...

rather than taking a final shot. Tyronn Lue, Cleveland's coach, later said that Smith thought the Cavaliers were ahead, though Smith denied not knowing the correct score, and claimed he assumed his team would take a time-out. Cleveland was not able to score in the final seconds and the game went to overtime. In overtime, the Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 17–7 to win the game. Tristan Thompson was ejected following a

flagrant foul In basketball, a flagrant foul is a personal foul that involves excessive or violent contact that could injure the fouled player. A flagrant foul may be unintentional or purposeful; the latter type is also called an "intentional foul" in the Nati ...

with 2.6 seconds remaining in overtime. Cleveland's

scored 51 points in Game 1, the sixth-highest point total for an NBA Finals game and the most in a loss. After Game 1, James punched a whiteboard in the Cavaliers' locker room due to frustration of his team's level of play, suffering a bone

contusion A bruise, also known as a contusion, is a type of hematoma of tissue, the most common cause being capillaries damaged by trauma, causing localized bleeding that extravasates into the surrounding interstitial tissues. Most bruises occur close ...

in his hand that he kept private for the remainder of the series.

Game 2

The Warriors employed more

double team In basketball, a double team (also double-team, double teaming, or double-teaming) is a defensive alignment in which two defensive players are assigned to guard a single offensive player. Among basketball strategies in which defenders are assign ...

s against James in Game 2, limiting him to 29 points. Cleveland had a 41%

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

, including 9-for-27 (33.3%) on

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s. Meanwhile, Golden State's Stephen Curry set an NBA Finals record in Game 2 with nine three-point field goals. He scored 33 points, while the Warriors got 26 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists from

, and 20 points from

. Smith struggled for Cleveland, shooting 2-for-9 (22.2%) with both baskets coming in the first quarter. The Warriors won 122–103 over the Cavaliers.

Game 3

Andre Iguodala of the Warriors, who missed the previous six games, including the first two games of the NBA Finals, due to a left leg injury, returned in Game 3. He injured his right leg early in the game, not returning until after

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...

. The Cavaliers started the game with a 14–4 advantage and led for the entire first half, at one point leading by 13. The Warriors trimmed Cleveland's lead to six by halftime. The Cavaliers enjoyed strong contributions from

, who scored 15 points, Smith, who scored 13 points, and

Kevin Love Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA Second Team and ...

, who had 20 points and 13 rebounds. Durant, who reprised his dagger 3-pointer over LeBron James from Game 3 the previous year with 49.8 seconds left to give the Warriors a 106-100 lead, scored a playoff career-high 43 points, while also contributing 13 rebounds and seven assists, in a 110–102 win over the Cavaliers, helping the Warriors take a 3–0 lead. Golden State withstood poor offensive performances from Curry and

, the

Splash Brothers The Splash Brothers are a duo of American basketball players consisting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The two guards play professionally for the Golden State Warriors in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Considered among the gre ...

. Curry missed 13 out of his first 14 shot attempts in the game. The Cavaliers were 3-for-17 (17.6%) on three point shots in the second half, and Durant scored a three-pointer late in the game that ended Cleveland's chances of a comeback. With the 110–102 victory, the Warriors took a 3–0 series lead.

Game 4

The Warriors led the game nearly from start to finish. Golden State led 13–3 at the start of the game. Though the Cavaliers took the lead, 39–38, in the second quarter, the Warriors led 61–52 at halftime. The Warriors expanded their lead in the third quarter and entered the last period of play with an 86–65 advantage. With Golden State leading 102–77 with 4:03 remaining, James came out of the game, receiving a standing ovation. Curry scored 37 points and made seven three-pointers, while Durant recorded a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The Warriors won 108–85 to

sweep Sweep or swept may refer to: Cleaning * Sweep, the action of using a brush to clean * Chimney sweep, a worker who clears ash and soot from chimneys * Street sweeper, a person's occupation, or a machine that cleans streets * Swept quartz, a cleani ...

the series. Durant was named Finals MVP for the second straight year. He received seven of the 11 votes, with Curry receiving the other four. Game 4 was also James' last game as a Cavalier as he joined the

during the offseason. The Warriors'

victory parade A victory parade is a parade held to celebrate a victory. Numerous military and sport victory parades have been held. Military victory parades Among the most famous parades are the victory parades celebrating the end of the First World War a ...

took place on June 12 in

Downtown Oakland Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States; roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lake ...

Rosters

Cleveland Cavaliers

Golden State Warriors

Player statistics

;Golden State Warriors , -! style="background:#FDE910;" ! scope="row" style="text-align:left; background:#FDE910", , 4 , , 4 , , 41.3 , , .526 , , .409 , , .963 , , 10.8 , , 7.5 , , 0.8 , , 2.3 , , 28.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 40.6 , , .402 , , .415 , , 1.000 , , 6.0 , , 6.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 27.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 37.0 , , .480 , , .429 , , .800 , , 3.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 16.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 41.4 , , .517 , , .214 , , .800 , , 6.0 , , 8.5 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , 9.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 3 , , 13.8 , , .800 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , , 8.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 16.2 , , .867 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 7.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .714 , , .000 , , .500 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 5.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 22.3 , , .583 , , .500 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 9.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 1 , , 9.7 , , .714 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 2.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 3.1 , , .333 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 4.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 7.0 , , .600 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 1.8 , , .333 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 9.5 , , .154 , , .100 , , .000 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 2.7 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 ;Cleveland Cavaliers , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 44.7 , , .527 , , .333 , , .842 , , 8.5 , , 10.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , 34.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 33.2 , , .406 , , .321 , , .938 , , 11.3 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 19.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 32.5 , , .317 , , .360 , , .600 , , 3.3 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 9.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 29.2 , , .323 , , .438 , , .500 , , 2.3 , , 2.3 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 7.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 4 , , 23.4 , , .520 , , .000 , , .333 , , 5.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.8 , , 6.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 14.1 , , .444 , , .200 , , .667 , , 3.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 6.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 17.1 , , .500 , , .000 , , .417 , , 7.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 5.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 24.4 , , .286 , , .214 , , 1.000 , , 1.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 5.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 2 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .231 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.5 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 4 , , 0 , , 16.2 , , .063 , , .091 , , .600 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.0 , , 0.3 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 3 , , 0 , , 1.7 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 3 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:left;", , 3 , , 0 , , 2.8 , , .400 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3

Sponsorship

For the first time, the NBA sold a presenting sponsorship for the Finals to the internet television service

YouTube TV YouTube TV is an American streaming television service operated by YouTube, a wholly owned subsidiary of Google. Announced on February 28, 2017, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor offers a selection of live linear channel f ...

. YouTube TV had previously been the presenting sponsor for the

2017 World Series The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the ...

, the first time that

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's championship series had a title sponsor as well. As part of a multi-year partnership deal, YouTube TV also broadcast the NBA Finals.

Broadcast

In the United States, the NBA Finals aired on ABC with

Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator for '' NBA on ABC'' and is the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen also calls NBA games for ESPN and was formerly a play-by-play anno ...

as play-by-play commentator, and

Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American commentator for ESPN and former basketball coach. He served as head coach of the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During his t ...

and Mark Jackson serving as

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

s. The series was sponsored by

. ESPN Radio aired it as well and had

Marc Kestecher Marc David Kestecher (born March 22, 1968) is a play-by-play announcer radio sports and news anchor. Early life and education He was raised in Guilderland, New York and graduated from Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Commun ...

and

Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American retired basketball coach and player and a current television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors being separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naism ...

as commentators.

ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes (, ''ESPN Sports'') is an American multinational Spanish-language pay television sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (whi ...

provided exclusive Spanish-language coverage of The Finals, with a commentary team of Álvaro Martín and Carlos Morales.

Aftermath

The Warriors made it to a fifth consecutive Finals in , which they would lose to the

in six games. James left the Cavaliers in the 2018 offseason to join the

. He would lead the Lakers to a title in and win Finals MVP that year. As of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Cavaliers have failed to return to the playoffs after James' departure, as was the case the first time he left them to join the

; however, they entered the postseason—for the first time as a non-LeBron team since 1998—in the play-in, losing to both the

and the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

References

External links

Official website
at Basketball-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2018 NBA Finals

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

National Basketball Association Finals

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

2010s in Cleveland 2010s in Oakland, California Sports competitions in Cleveland Sports competitions in Oakland, California ABS-CBN television specials

Background

Cleveland Cavaliers

Golden State Warriors

Road to the Finals

Regular season series

Series summary

Game summaries

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Rosters

Cleveland Cavaliers

Golden State Warriors

Player statistics

Sponsorship

Broadcast

Aftermath

See also

References

External links