The 2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 46th season of the

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 Central ...

franchise in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA). The Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA championship, the first NBA championship in franchise history. During the regular season, the Cavaliers had the third best team offensive rating and were tenth in team defensive rating in the NBA. During the playoffs, the Cavaliers had the best team offensive rating and were eighth in team defensive rating in the NBA. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the

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 L ...

in four games in the First Round, then swept 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 Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in four games in the Semi-finals, before finally defeating the

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 six games in the Conference Finals to reach the

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 a ...

for a second consecutive year. There, the Cavaliers faced off against the defending NBA 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 ...

, the team that defeated them in the previous year's NBA Finals in six games, and were coming off of a record-breaking regular season, where the team posted a league-best 73–9 record. The Cavaliers would go on to defeat the

in the 2016 NBA Finals in seven games, coming back from a 3–1 series deficit to avenge their loss from the prior year. The Cavaliers became the first team in NBA Finals history to recover from a 3–1 series deficit and win. The Cavaliers' victory also marked the first championship win by a major professional sports team from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

since 1964, ending a 52–year championship drought dating back to the 1964 NFL title won by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

. The Cleveland Cavaliers would be the first NBA champion to represent the Central Division since the 2003–04 Detroit Pistons.

Regular season summary

The Cavaliers started the season strong and rose to the top of the Eastern Conference. However, despite having the best record in their conference, the team fired head coach David Blatt on January 22, 2016. Assistant coach

Tyronn Lue Tyronn Jamar Lue (pronounced ''Ta-RON LEW''; born May 3, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He formerly served as ...

took over for the remainder of the season. The Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 57–25 record and obtained the number one seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time since

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Postseason summary

In the 2016 NBA Playoffs' first round, the

matched up against the 8th seed

. In the first game of their series, Cleveland’s 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 ...

led the way scoring 31 points and sealing a win for the Cavaliers, 106-101. The Cavs swept the rest of the series, winning 107-90 in Game 2, 101-91 in Game 3, and 100-98 in Game 4.

was the top scorer of the series averaging 27.5 points per game,

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 p ...

led the Cleveland Cavaliers in this series in assist and steals, averaging 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals, and big man

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 NBA All-Star Game, All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA ...

led Cleveland in rebounds averaging 12 total rebounds per game. The Cavaliers were matched with the number four seed,

, for their second series in the 2015-2016 post-season. Similar to their last series, they swept their opponents 4-0.

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 p ...

led the way in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game. He also led his team in assists and steals, averaging 7.8 assists and 3 steals per game.

was the rebound leader for the series averaging 13 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers were now facing the

in the Eastern Conference Finals. The series between the Raptors and the Cavaliers took 6 games to finish with Cleveland winning 4 to 2. This was the first time in their 2015-2016 playoff run that they lost a game. Lebron James led his team in all major stats against the

. He averaged 26 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.7 assists in the 6 game series. The Cavaliers were off to face the

in the NBA finals. They were considered huge underdogs because the Warriors had accomplished an incredible feat in the regular season, seventy-three wins and nine losses, the best record ever in the NBA. The Cavaliers lost three of the first four games of the 2016 NBA Finals to the

, who had defeated Cleveland in the Finals the year before. The first two games were blowouts for Golden State, 104–89 and 110–77 respectively, combining for a total winning margin of 48. Cleveland would respond with a 120–90 blowout of their own to cut the series deficit to 2–1, but the Warriors would pull away late in Game 4 to take a decisive 3–1 series lead. In turn, the Cavaliers won Games 5 and 6 of the series to bring about a climactic Game 7 at

Oracle Arena An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word ''o ...

. With Game 7 tied at 89–89,

chased down and blocked

Andre Iguodala Andre Tyler Iguodala ( ; born January 28, 1984) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The swingman was an NBA All-Star in 2012 and has been named to th ...

's attempted lay-up in a play that became known as "The Block." The Cavaliers ultimately won Game 7, 93–89, for the first

NBA championship 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 a ...

in franchise history. Until then, no team had recovered from a 3–1 deficit in an

series. James was named the unanimous NBA Finals MVP, receiving the award for the third time in his career. This win ended a fifty-two year championship run in the city of Cleveland, with the last championship that any sports team had won there being 1964 when the

won an

NFL season The National Football League (NFL) regular season begins on the weekend following the first Monday of September (i.e, the weekend following the Labor Day holiday) and ends in early January, after which that season's playoffs tournament begins. I ...

. When the game ended, it was visible the sense of relief that the players felt. Lebron James was the star of the show, and he could not hold his tears back. When he finally got the strength to stand up, the only thing that he was able to say was, "Cleveland, this is for you," as the

blasted with cheers from Cleveland fans. Not only was this a monumental win for the Cleveland Cavaliers it also cemented Lebron James as one of the all-time greats the NBA has ever seen. Prior to this ring, he had only won with the

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 Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

. Haters were quick to disregard his Miami wins because the team were filled with talented players like

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 cham ...

and Chris Bosh, but the win in Cleveland was undoubtedly one of the best basketball performances the NBA has ever seen.

Draft picks

Roster

Player statistics

Regular season

Standings

Preseason

, - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 1 , October 7
7:00 pm ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

96–98
,

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 ...

(15) ,

(7) ,

(5) , Cintas Center
10,250 , 0–1 , - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 2 , October 8
7:00 pm , @

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

114–115
,

Jared Cunningham Jared Armon Cunningham (born May 22, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Pieno žvaigždės Pasvalys of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He played college basketball for Oregon State, where he was an All-Pac-12 first ...

(31) ,

Austin Daye Austin Darren Daye (born June 5, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who plays for New Taipei Kings of the P. League+. He played college basketball for Gonzaga before being drafted 15th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 200 ...

(9) ,

Matthew Dellavedova Matthew William Dellavedova (born 8 September 1990) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Saint Mary's College. In 2016, he won t ...

(5) ,

Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center may refer to: *Wells Fargo Center (Los Angeles), California *Wells Fargo Center (Sacramento), California * Wells Fargo Center (San Francisco), California * Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California *Wells Fargo Cent ...

8,229 , 0–2 , - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 3 , October 12
7:00 pm ,

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

81–91
,

(14) ,

Anderson Varejão Anderson França Varejão (; born September 28, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), 13 of those with the Cleveland Cavaliers. With a career that spanned ...

(7) ,

(4) ,

Schottenstein Center Value City Arena is a multi-purpose arena, located on the campus of Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The arena opened in 1998 and is currently the largest by seating capacity in the Big Ten Conference, with 19,049 seats, wh ...

18,073 , 0–3 , - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 4 , October 13
7:00 pm ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

101–110
,

Mo Williams Maurice Williams (born December 19, 1982) is the head men's basketball coach at Jackson State University and a former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high scho ...

(18) ,

Kaun Kaun may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Kaun?'', a 1999 Hindi film * '' Kaun? Kaisey?'', a 1983 Hindi film * Kaun (song), a song by Indian Ocean from album '' Kandisa'' Other uses * The Old Norse name of the ''k'' rune; see Kaunan * ''K ...

, Williams (6) ,

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, Williams (4) ,

Quicken Loans Arena Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also se ...

18,624 , 0–4 , - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 5 , October 15
7:00 pm ,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

85–107
, Timofey Mozgov (16) ,

(7) ,

(6) ,

18,774 , 0–5 , - style="background-color:#fbb;" , 6 , October 18
8:00 pm , @

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

81–87
,

(13) , Timofey Mozgov (11) , Dellavedova, Varejão (5) ,

Air Canada Centre Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto Ra ...

19,800 , 0–6 , - style="background-color:#bfb;" , 7 , October 19
7:00 pm ,

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

103–97
,

(19) , Jack Cooley (15) ,

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

, Dellavedova (5) ,

18,768 , 1–6

Regular season game log

, - style="background:#fbb;" , 1 , October 27 , @

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, ,

(25) ,

Tristan Thompson Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavali ...

(12) ,

(7) ,

United Center United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is name ...

21,957 , 0–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 2 , October 28 , @

, ,

(17) ,

(13) ,

(7) ,

FedExForum FedExForum is a multi-purpose arena located in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. It is the home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA and the NCAA Division I men's basketball program of the University of Memphis, both of whom previously played home ...

18,119 , 1–1 , -style="background:#bfb;" , 3 , October 30 ,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, ,

(29) ,

(14) ,

(10) ,

20,562 , 2–1 , -style="background:#bfb;" , 4 , November 2 , @

, ,

(22) , James,

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada ...

(9) ,

(11) ,

18,094 , 3–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 5 , November 4 ,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, ,

(23) ,

(13) ,

(7) ,

20,562 , 4–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 6 , November 6 ,

, ,

(31) ,

(14) ,

(13) ,

20,562 , 5–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 7 , November 8 ,

, ,

(29) ,

(15) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 6–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 8 , November 10 ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

, ,

(31) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 7–1 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 9 , November 13 , @

, ,

(31) ,

(11) ,

(6) ,

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

19,812 , 8–1 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 10 , November 14 , @

, ,

(37) ,

(14) ,

(7) ,

BMO Harris Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

18,717 , 8–2 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 11 , November 17 , @

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, ,

(30) ,

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

(9) ,

(7) ,

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly referred to as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena built in 1988 and located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shoc ...

18,442 , 8–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 12 , November 19 ,

, ,

(27) ,

(15) ,

(13) ,

20,562 , 9–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 13 , November 21 ,

, ,

(25) ,

(16) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 10–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 14 , November 23 ,

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

, ,

(34) ,

(14) ,

(13) ,

20,562 , 11–3 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 15 , November 25 , @

, ,

(24) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

20,140 , 11–4 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 16 , November 27 , @

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, ,

(25) ,

(16) , James, Dellavedova (5) ,

Time Warner Cable Arena Spectrum Center is an indoor arena located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by the city of Charlotte and operated by its main tenant, the NBA's Charlotte Hornets. The arena seats 19,077 for NBA games but can be expanded to 20,20 ...

19,093 , 12–4 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 17 , November 28 ,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, , James,

(26) ,

(11) ,

(6) ,

20,562 , 13–4 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 18 , December 1 ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, ,

(24) ,

(13) ,

(4) ,

20,562 , 13–5 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 19 , December 4 , @

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, ,

(37) ,

(10) ,

(8) ,

Smoothie King Center Smoothie King Center (locally referred to as SKC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is located in the city's Central Business District, adjacent to Caesars Superdome. The arena opened in 1999 as New Orleans Arena and ...

17,906 , 13–6 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 20 , December 5 , @

, ,

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on ESPN. He played college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats. Jefferson was drafted in the first round of the 20 ...

(18) ,

(8) ,

(5) ,

American Airlines Arena FTX Arena (known as American Airlines Arena from 1999 to 2021) is a multi-purpose arena located in Miami, Florida, along Biscayne Bay. It was constructed beginning in 1998 as a replacement for the Miami Arena and designed by the architecture f ...

19,600 , 13–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 21 , December 8 , Portland , ,

(33) ,

(10) ,

(4) ,

20,562 , 14–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 22 , December 11 , @

, ,

(25) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

Amway Center Amway Center is an indoor arena located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. The arena is home to the Orlando Magic of the NBA, the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL, and the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. Amway Center hosted the 2012 N ...

17,239 , 15–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 23 , December 15 , @

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, ,

(24) , Timofey Mozgov (10) ,

(5) ,

TD Garden TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has bee ...

18,624 , 16–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 24 , December 17 ,

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, ,

(33) ,

(15) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 17–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 25 , December 20 ,

, ,

(23) , Timofey Mozgov (8) , Irving, James,

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

, Shumpert (4) ,

20,562 , 18–7 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 26 , December 23 ,

, ,

(24) ,

(13) ,

(7) ,

20,562 , 19–7 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 27 , December 25 , @ Golden State , ,

(25) ,

(18) ,

(4) ,

19,596 , 19–8 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 28 , December 26 , @ Portland , ,

(13) ,

(11) ,

(6) ,

Moda Center Moda Center, formerly known as the Rose Garden, is the primary indoor sports arena in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is used for basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena ...

19,393 , 19–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 29 , December 28 , @ Phoenix , ,

(22) ,

(10) ,

(7) ,

Talking Stick Resort Arena Footprint Center (formerly known as America West Arena, US Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena and Phoenix Suns Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Built in the regional population center of the southwestern United Sta ...

18,319 , 20–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 30 , December 29 , @

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, ,

(34) ,

(14) ,

(5) , Pepsi Center
17,523 , 21–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 31 , January 2 ,

, ,

(29) ,

(13) ,

(6) ,

20,562 , 22–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 32 , January 4 ,

, ,

(25) ,

(11) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 23–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 33 , January 6 , @

, ,

(34) ,

(10) ,

(4) , Verizon Center
20,356 , 24–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 34 , January 8 , @

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, ,

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 ...

(27) ,

(12) ,

(8) ,

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

16,768 , 25–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 35 , January 10 , @

, ,

(37) ,

(15) ,

(9) ,

19,226 , 26–9 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 36 , January 12 , @

, ,

(27) ,

(11) ,

(9) ,

American Airlines Center The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association and the Dallas St ...

20,347 , 27–9 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 37 , January 14 , @

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

, ,

(22) ,

(11) ,

(4) ,

AT&T Center AT&T Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena on the east side of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It is the home of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association. The arena seats 18,418 for basketball, and 19,000 for concerts or ...

18,418 , 27–10 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 38 , January 15 , @

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

, ,

(23) ,

(13) ,

(7) ,

Toyota Center Toyota Center is an indoor arena located in Houston. It is named after the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The arena is home to the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and it was once the home of the Hous ...

18,320 , 28–10 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 39 , January 18 , Golden State , ,

(16) ,

(6) ,

20,562 , 28–11 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 40 , January 20 , @

, , James,

(17) ,

(18) , Irving, James (5) ,

Barclays Center Barclays Center is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty o ...

17,732 , 29–11 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 41 , January 21 , L.A. Clippers , , James,

(22) ,

(16) ,

(12) ,

20,562 , 30–11 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 42 , January 23 ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, ,

(26) ,

(13) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 30–12 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 43 , January 25 ,

, ,

(25) ,

(12) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 31–12 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 44 , January 27 , Phoenix , , James,

(21) ,

(11) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 32–12 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 45 , January 29 , @

, ,

(29) ,

(14) ,

(8) ,

21,012 , 33–12 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 46 , January 30 ,

, ,

(29) ,

(11) ,

(7) ,

20,562 , 34–12 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 47 , February 1 , @

, ,

(25) , James,

(12) ,

(7) ,

Bankers Life Fieldhouse A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

17,283 , 35–12 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 48 , February 3 , @

, ,

(26) ,

(12) ,

(6) ,

19,189 , 35–13 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 49 , February 5 ,

, ,

(30) ,

(10) ,

(6) ,

20,562 , 35–14 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 50 , February 6 ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, ,

(29) ,

(15) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 36–14 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 51 , February 8 ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, ,

(32) , James,

(10) ,

(12) ,

20,562 , 37–14 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 52 , February 10 ,

L.A. 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 ...

, ,

(35) ,

(13) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 38–14 , - align="center" , colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff", All-Star Break , - style="background:#bfb;" , 53 , February 18 ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, ,

(25) ,

(12) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 39–14 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 54 , February 21 , @

, ,

(29) ,

(11) ,

(9) ,

Chesapeake Energy Arena Paycom Center (originally known as the Ford Center from 2002 to 2010, Oklahoma City Arena from 2010 to 2011, and Chesapeake Energy Arena from 2011 to 2021) is an arena located in Downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. It opened in 200 ...

18,203 , 40–14 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 55 , February 22 ,

, ,

(30) ,

(8) , Irving, James (5) ,

20,562 , 40–15 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 56 , February 24 ,

, , Irving, James (23) ,

(10) , Dellavedova, James (7) ,

20,562 , 41–15 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 57 , February 26 , @

, ,

(25) ,

(9) ,

(7) ,

19,800 , 41–16 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 58 , February 28 , @

, ,

(28) , Timofey Mozgov (10) ,

(6) , Verizon Center
20,356 , 41–17 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 59 , February 29 ,

, ,

(33) ,

(11) , Irving,

(6) ,

20,562 , 42–17 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 60 , March 4 ,

, ,

(21) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 43–17 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 61 , March 5 ,

, ,

(28) ,

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 pick ...

(16) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 44–17 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 62 , March 7 ,

, ,

(28) ,

(11) , Irving, James (5) ,

20,562 , 44–18 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 63 , March 9 , @

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, ,

(30) ,

(11) ,

(6) , Sleep Train Arena
17,317 , 45–18 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 64 , March 10 , @

, ,

(26) ,

(14) ,

(9) ,

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it w ...

18,997 , 46–18 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 65 , March 13 , @ L.A. Clippers , ,

(27) ,

(14) , Irving, James (5) ,

19,342 , 47–18 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 66 , March 14 , @

, ,

(23) ,

(12) ,

(5) ,

Vivint Smart Home Arena Vivint Arena (stylized as vivint arena), formerly known as Delta Center, EnergySolutions Arena and Vivint Smart Home Arena, is an indoor arena located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Assoc ...

19,911 , 47–19 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 67 , March 16 ,

, ,

(33) ,

(18) ,

(7) ,

20,562 , 48–19 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 68 , March 18 , @

, ,

(26) ,

(15) ,

(8) ,

18,046 , 49–19 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 69 , March 19 , @

, ,

(26) ,

Frye Frye is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Channing Frye (born 1983), basketball player * Charlie Frye (born 1981), football player for the Oakland Raiders *Don Frye (born 1965), mixed martial arts fighter *Donna Frye (born 1952), ...

, Jefferson, Mozgov (4) , Irving, Shumpert (4) ,

19,737 , 49–20 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 70 , March 21 ,

, ,

(33) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 50–20 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 71 , March 23 ,

, ,

(26) ,

(10) , Irving, James (8) ,

20,562 , 51–20 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 72 , March 24 , @

, ,

(30) ,

(12) ,

(5) ,

17,732 , 51–21 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 73 , March 26 , @

, ,

(28) ,

(12) ,

(10) ,

19,812 , 52–21 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 74 , March 29 ,

, ,

(31) ,

(11) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 52–22 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 75 , March 31 ,

, ,

(24) ,

(10) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 53–22 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 76 , April 1 , @

, ,

(29) ,

(16) ,

(9) ,

Philips Arena State Farm Arena (formerly Philips Arena) is a multi-purpose arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. The arena serves as the home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Atlanta Hawks. It also served as home to the National Hockey Le ...

19,427 , 54–22 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 77 , April 3 ,

, ,

(31) ,

(9) ,

(12) ,

20,562 , 55–22 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 78 , April 5 , @

, ,

(21) ,

(9) ,

15,061 , 56–22 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 79 , April 6 , @

, ,

(26) ,

(5) ,

(6) ,

18,165 , 56–23 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 80 , April 9 , @

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, ,

(33) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

22,186 , 56–24 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 81 , April 11 ,

, ,

(35) ,

(14) ,

(6) ,

20,562 , 57–24 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 82 , April 13 ,

, ,

Jordan McRae Jordan Tyler McRae (born March 28, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. He played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers, and was drafted 58th overall in the ...

(36) , Timofey Mozgov (12) ,

(7) ,

20,562 , 57–25

Playoffs

Game log

, - bgcolor=bbffbb , 1 , April 17 ,

, ,

(31) ,

(13) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 1–0 , - bgcolor=bbffbb , 2 , April 20 ,

, ,

(27) ,

(10) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 2–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 3 , April 22 , @

, ,

(26) ,

(13) ,

(7) ,

21,584 , 3–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 4 , April 24 , @

, ,

(31) ,

(13) ,

(6) ,

21,584 , 4–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 1 , May 2 ,

, ,

(25) ,

(14) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 1–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 2 , May 4 ,

, ,

(27) ,

(13) , Dellavedova, Irving (6) ,

20,562 , 2–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 3 , May 6 , @

, ,

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 ...

(27) ,

(15) ,

(8) ,

19,089 , 3–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 4 , May 8 , @

, ,

(27) ,

(13) ,

(9) ,

19,031 , 4–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 1 , May 17 ,

, ,

(27) ,

(11) ,

(5) ,

20,562 , 1–0 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 2 , May 19 ,

, ,

(26) ,

(12) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 2–0 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 3 , May 21 , @

, ,

(24) , James,

(8) ,

(5) ,

20,207 , 2–1 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 4 , May 23 , @

, ,

(29) , James,

(9) , Irving, James (6) ,

20,367 , 2–2 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 5 , May 25 ,

, ,

(25) ,

(10) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 3–2 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 6 , May 27 , @

, ,

(33) ,

(12) ,

(9) ,

20,605 , 4–2 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 1 , June 2 , @ Golden State , ,

(26) ,

(13) ,

(9) ,

19,596 , 0–1 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2 , June 5 , @ Golden State , ,

(19) ,

(8) ,

(9) ,

19,596 , 0–2 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 3 , June 8 , Golden State , ,

(32) ,

(13) ,

(8) ,

20,562 , 1–2 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 4 , June 10 , Golden State , ,

(34) ,

(13) ,

(9) ,

20,562 , 1–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 5 , June 13 , @ Golden State , , James, Irving (41) ,

(16) ,

(7) ,

19,596 , 2–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 6 , June 16 , Golden State , ,

(41) ,

(16) ,

(11) ,

20,562 , 3–3 , - style="background:#bfb;" , 7 , June 19 , @ Golden State , ,

(27) ,

(14) ,

(11) ,

19,596 , 4–3 , - style="background:#bfb;"

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Records

* JR Smith set franchise records in: ** Three-point field goals in a season: (204) ** Three-point field goal attempts in a season: (510) ** Turnover percentage in a season: (6.3%) ** Three-point field goals in a postseason: (65) *

set a franchise record in: ** Offensive rating in a season: (129.8)

Milestones

* On March 29, Tristan Thompson broke the franchise record of consecutive games with the Cavs, appearing in his 362nd consecutive game. * The Cavs finished the season first in the Eastern Conference for the first time since

. * The Cavs finished first in the Central Division for the second straight season. * The Cavs became the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 deficit and win the

. * The Cavs won the 2016 NBA Finals, ending the city's 52-year championship drought. * LeBron James famously blocked Andre Iguodala in Game 7. This has been called one of the best plays of his career. *

became the third player in NBA history to record a triple-double in Game 7 of the

. * James also became the first player in NBA history to lead both NBA Finals teams in all five statistical categories for the round.

References

Notes

:1. Varejão never played a single game for Portland.

External links

What Will 2015-2016 Look Like for the Cavaliers
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Cleveland Cavaliers season Cleveland Cavaliers seasons

Eastern Conference (NBA) championship seasons NBA championship seasons