Read a full report from the NBA title decider here
4.02am BST
And that’s it for the liveblog of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. What a game. Not an all-time series. Not a great playoffs. But a Game 7 that will be talked about for years. You can read the full report here:
Related: Cavaliers beat Warriors to win NBA title and end Cleveland's 52-year drought
3.56am BST
#ThisIsWhyWePlay #NBAVine https://t.co/NcCVA340Ep
3.49am BST
Listen to that crowd.
The Cavs are the first team in NBA Finals history to come back from a 3-1 deficit.
Let the celebration begin! Stay safe and enjoy this moment, Cleveland. #OneForTheLand pic.twitter.com/SB0PedktIA
3.47am BST
Earlier this year, the Warriors had won 54 games in a row at home. They ended the year by losing two straight at home.
Steph Curry shot 40% from the floor in the Finals and averages 22 ppg, well off his season average. It will be interesting to hear if his camp blames his knee injury for his troubles.
3.44am BST
Ballgame!
Congrats, @cavs! pic.twitter.com/3AdofETpUs
3.42am BST
Leicester City and Cleveland have both won championships in 2016.
What a year.
3.40am BST
It's the year of the Cavalier. #NBAChampions https://t.co/v9z3s1HAhB
3.39am BST
Steph Curry missed a three and ... it happened! Cleveland did it!
LeBron is down on all fours, crying on the court.
3.36am BST
Cavaliers 93-89 Warriors, 0:10.6 4th quarter
LeBron hits the second and they have a two-possession lead. Cleveland. It’s happening. Cleveland!
3.35am BST
LeBron misses the first and then shakes his wrist.
3.35am BST
Cavaliers 92-89 Warriors, 0:10 4th quarter
LeBron James is down on the court after Draymond Green fouled him as he was trying to dunk. James is up, but ... he’s clearly in pain and grabbing at his right wrist.
3.33am BST
Cavaliers 92-89 Warriors, 0:18 4th quarter
Kyrie Irving hits a three, Curry misses his attempt, LeBron gets the rebound and ... oh, my ... we’re close. We’re close, Cleveland.
3.31am BST
And here’s that LeBron block. Mercy.
LeBron is on another level! #NBAFinals https://t.co/TzTkzwPyld
3.31am BST
With 333 of the 336 regulation minutes of this 7 game NBA Finals series in the books, the Warriors and Cavs are tied 699-699.
This is still a somewhat misleading stat because the first six games weren’t all that close.
3.30am BST
Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 1:09 4th quarter
Kyrie Irving missed a runner, setting the Warriors off on what looked like an easy transition bucket ... until James came out of nowhere (again) to swat it away.
3.28am BST
Iguodala with a clutch rejection in #Game7 of the #NBAFinals. #WARRIORSvCAVS https://t.co/deuG9REORK
3.27am BST
Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 2:50 4th quarter
I don’t want to get into typical sports media hyperbole, but we’re possibly just minutes away from major history in Cleveland. Or the Cuyahoga River primarily flowing with tears. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a Cleveland fan right now.
3.24am BST
Speaking of the non-stop goodness: 20 lead changes and 11 ties now. Let’s do a Game 8 and 9.
3.23am BST
Warriors 89-89 Cavaliers, 3:40 4th quarter
Hard to keep up because it’s non-stop goodness, but LeBron has 6 points since the last update. Oh ... and the City of Cleveland is in some kind of lockdown?
Ohio Highway Patrol has blocked off entrances into Cleveland. #NBAFinals
3.20am BST
Warriors 87-83 Cavaliers, 5:24 4th quarter
The Cavs continue to have no answer for Draymond Green. After Curry flips up a lay-up that missed, Green flies in for a put back. He has 32 points on the night.
3.17am BST
Warriors 86-83 Cavaliers, 6:18 4th quarter
A LeBron bucket is followed by a deeeeep three by Steph Curry and then a deep jumper by Klay Thompson. Timeout Cleveland.
3.14am BST
Cavaliers 81-80 Warriors, 7:40 4th quarter
Andre Iguodala just missed two free throws to keep Cleveland in the lead. He probably should have shot them from behind the 3-point line. Golden State is pretty good from there.
3.10am BST
Cavaliers 81-78 Warriors, 9:06 4th quarter
Kyrie Irving gets his own rebound and scores to get the lead to three. No matter who wins, Kyrie Irving has proven himself in this series to be an NBA star. He should help keep Cleveland a contender for a long time.
3.05am BST
Cavaliers 77-76 Warriors, 10:49 4th quarter
LeBron opens with a basket in the paint. We’ll see if he decides it’s his time to try to take the game over and deliver a title to Cleveland. (If you’ve not heard, they haven’t won one of those in a while. True story.)
3.04am BST
Quick 3rd quarter recap: Kyrie Irving owned that quarter like Draymond Green did the first half. If Cleveland loses, threes will be the main reason. Golden State is now at 14-for-31. Cleveland? An abysmal 4-for-20. Yikes.
3.01am BST
Andre Iguodala hit a tough inside basket with four seconds remaining in the quarter after Cleveland squandered the clock, missed a shot and gave the Warriors an extra possession. That’s probably not what you want to do in a Game 7.
2.57am BST
Cavaliers 71-71 Warriors, 1:56 3rd quarter
Draymond Green is back assaulting the basket from three. He’s now up to 28 on the night. And then Golden State ties it up on a transition dunk from Shaun Livingston. This is the NBA Super Bowl we wanted.
Livingston drops a dime to Green for a triple on #NBAonABC. #NBAFinals #WARRIORSvCAVS #Game7 https://t.co/Xd4AxCKnXF
2.54am BST
Cavaliers 70-66 Warriors, 3:03 3rd quarter
Draymond Green, the 1st half hero, scores his first points of the second half on three free throws after drawing a bit of a cheap foul on LeBron from behind the line.
2.51am BST
Cavaliers 68-61 Warriors, 3:50 3rd quarter
Harrison Barnes scored to end the run, but Kyrie Irving followed with a three to grow th lead to 7 points, Cleveland’s biggest of the night.
Watch this forever. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/lulzyoj3dY
2.49am BST
Kyrie with a beautiful finish in transition on #NBAonABC. #NBAVine https://t.co/NjrDffBSkF
2.48am BST
Cavaliers 65-59 Warriors, 4:33 3rd quarter
Cleveland extends its lead on five consecutive points by Kyrie Irving, adding to an 11-0 run. The Cavs have come all the way back with LeBron being quiet scoring the ball so far this quarter. They’re like a real team!
2.44am BST
Cavaliers 60-59 Warriors, 5:47 3rd quarter
Cleveland takes the lead on a beautiful Kyrie Irving transition bucket after a bad Steph Curry turnover. It’s our 13th lead change of the game. Were their 13 lead changes in the previous six games?
2.41am BST
It’s probably not a coincidence that Golden State’s little run has come with Harrison Barnes on the bench. He continues to be a liability. Win or lose, Barnes lost a ton of money this series.
2.39am BST
Warriors 59-54 Cavaliers, 7:38 3rd quarter
Curry gets a bucket in transition and then hits a three off a screen to give Warriors a 5-point lead. Maybe he has decided to make his long-awaited appearance in the second half of Game 7.
2.32am BST
Warriors 54-54 Cavaliers, 9:11 3rd quarter
Golden State takes their largest lead of the night after Klay Thompson hits a three and then a nice short jumper. But then J.R. Smith answers with a three, only Cleveland’s second of the night. Seems the Cavaliers have decided that making their threes might be a good thing to do.
2.30am BST
Warriors 49-44 Cavaliers, 11:25 3rd quarter
J.R. Smith hits a deep two for Cleveland. Let’s just award them 3 points since they’ve struggled from deep.
2.27am BST
The main thing going agaisnt the Cavaliers seems to be the fact that 3 is a bigger number than 2. @DJGalloEtc
If Cleveland can use halftime to petition the league to reward a point for rebounds, you have to think they’re the favorites to win.
2.25am BST
If Steve Kerr could pick one player in a Game 7 at home, I’d bet that he’d lean towards Draymond Green.
If I had to pick 1 player to play a Game 7 on the road, I'd take LeBron 1st, KD 2nd and Joakim Noah 3rd. Noah is an amazing player/winner.
2.23am BST
Well, this couldn’t have helped the Cavs’ chances.
Do it @cavs #ALLin216 pic.twitter.com/T6te83x7wz
2.21am BST
Steph Curry has just 8 points on 3-of-8 shooting in the first half. If Golden State’s margin holds, the Warriors will have won the NBA title without a single “Steph Curry game.” That might not be great for the legend of Steph Curry -- or at least as bad as the Curry 2s -- but it will prove that the Warriors are a deep team.
2.16am BST
Yeah, this is a quick way for a team to build a lead.
Warriors' last 7 scores have been 3s or 3-point plays.
2.14am BST
Golden State’s lead is due to two things: Draymond Green’s brilliance and Cleveland’s inability to hit from three. Green is well on his way to a triple-double, with 22, 6 and 5 so far, while the Cavaliers only have one triple all night. They’re 1-for-14 from three, led by J.R. Smith -- of course -- who is 0-for-4.
2.10am BST
Warriors 47-42 Cavaliers, 1:09 2nd quarter
Shumpert hits two free throws after getting fouled by Steph Curry, who is now out of the game with three fouls. The Golden State crowd doesn’t like the call. They seem to be biased for the Warriors. Huh!
2.08am BST
Warriors 47-40 Cavaliers, 1:58 2nd quarter
Barbosa hits a three after some more Draymond Green dominance and Golden State has its biggest lead of the night.
LeBron blocked Steph and had some words for him afterwards https://t.co/ABRuGtxUrH
2.06am BST
Don’t be this dad. It’s Father’s Day, and the guy’s son is ashamed of him in public. As he should be.
Can't breathe. pic.twitter.com/qEcD14RkTl
2.04am BST
Warriors 41-40 Cavaliers, 2:35 2nd quarter
Another huge block by LeBron, this time on Leandro Barbosa. Right now this game is kind of LeBron vs. Draymond Green with everyone else just running around. Not that I’m complaining. It’s fun to watch.
2.02am BST
Warriors 41-38 Cavaliers, 3:31 2nd quarter
Draymond Green is now 5-for-5 from three. This is the game we’ve all been waiting for Steph Curry to have, but in Draymond Green’s body.
2.00am BST
Warriors 35-35 Cavaliers, 4:20 2nd quarter
Kyrie Irving scores on a drive down the lane, but this happened on Golden State’s previous possession.
#NBAVine https://t.co/51svGxeDq8
1.55am BST
Warriors 35-33 Cavaliers, 5:43 2nd quarter
There’s another three by Draymond Green. He’s now 3-for-3 on the night and has a game-high 13 points. Perhaps he is applying to be the third member of the Splash Brothers.
1.54am BST
Cavaliers 33-32 Warriors, 6:00 2nd quarter
After Steph Curry picks up his second foul of the game, he gets out of the way of LeBron in transition and Cleveland re-takes the lead. In fairness, getting out of LeBron’s way in transition is a healthy life decision regardless of one’s foul total.
1.52am BST
Cavaliers 31-29 Warriors, 6:55 2nd quarter
Iman Shumpert hits a three and is fouled by Livingston for a 4-point play.
1.49am BST
Warriors 29-27, 7:55 2nd quarter
Kevin Love misses a three from straightaway, putting Cleveland at 0-for-7 on the game.
1.46am BST
Warriors 29-27 Cavaliers, 8:48 2nd quarter
Draymond Green now has a game-high 10 points. He also has 4 assists and is 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-2 from three. Best of all: he has a 0 in the Crotch Assault stat category.
1.44am BST
Warriors 26-25 Cavaliers, 9:35 2nd quarter
Mo Speights is bringing energy off the bench for the Warriors and his fellow benchmate, Shaun Livingston, now has 4 points to give Golden State the lead.
1.41am BST
Following #Game7 on the line @guardian. Is K Irving playing? @DJGalloEtc
Officially ... yes. But he’s been mostly invisible so far.
1.39am BST
Cavs are out-rebounding the Warriors 16-8 through one quarter. But Golden State has five made threes to still zero for Cleveland. And so we have a 1-point game ... and maybe the first close game of this series.
1.37am BST
LeBron hit two free throws after driving to the basket on Cleveland’s last possession of the quarter and Cleveland takes the lead.
Golden State hit some shots in the first quarter, Cleveland missed assignments on D ... and yet the Cavs have the lead. Encouraging for Cleveland fans. Also encouraging: Kevin Love is on pace for 20 points and 28 rebounds.
1.33am BST
Warriors 21-21 Cavaliers, 0:37 1st quarter
Kevin Love just grabbed his 6th rebound, backed into Varejao underneath (Varejao attempted to flop ... really!) and earned two free throws. So far, this is Love’s best game of the Finals.
1.30am BST
Warriors 21-18 Cavaliers, 1:06 1st quarter
Another three by Steph Curry. Golden State is now 5-for-10 on the night from deep. Cleveland is 0-for-3.
1.28am BST
For those saying refs are out to get Steph...this is defense? pic.twitter.com/vLMCzczqxv
1.26am BST
Warriors 16-16 Cavaliers, 2:29 1st quarter
Cavaliers take a timeout. Probably to watch this awesome LeBron dunk again.
LeBron soars for the powerful slam on #NBAonABC. #NBAVine https://t.co/nY4pTQlGt3
1.24am BST
Warriors 13-12 Cavaliers, 3:55 1st quarter
Klay Thompson hits a jumper, his first points of the night, after LeBron’s third turnover. Then LeBron clangs a jumper. Uh-oh, Cleveland.
1.22am BST
Warriors 11-10 Cavaliers, 5:26 1st quarter
LeBron with his second turnover of the night. He’s had 5 total turnovers in the previous three games.
1.21am BST
Warriors 11-8 Cavaliers, 6:35 1st quarter
Steph Curry hits a three to give Golden State the lead again. His first attempt was an air ball.
1.20am BST
We’re in a timeout, so here’s and odd stat through approximately 1/8th of the game: Kevin Love and Festus Ezeli are leading their respective teams in shot attempts.
As I said at the beginning of tonight’s liveblog, no one knows anything.
1.17am BST
Warriors 8-8 Cavaliers, 7:04 1st quarter
Kevin Love just scored for Cleveland by overpowering Festus Ezeli inside. Tough play by Love. Our narratives are being ruined!
1.14am BST
Warriors 5-4 Cavaliers, 9:30 1st quarter
Harrison Barnes just hit a huge three. It gave Golden State the lead, but Barnes was 2-for-22 in the previous two games. If he’s hitting, everything changes for the Warriors.
1.13am BST
Cavaliers 4-0 Warriors, 10:30 1st quarter
After the Cavs and Warriors trade missed baskets, Tristan Thompson hits inside and then LeBron scores in transition. Cleveland has the lead. If they lose, now the LeBron haters can say he “choked with a lead.”
1.11am BST
We could be 2 1/2 hours from Cleveland being a champion.
1.07am BST
Welcome to everyone who was following The Guardian’s liveblog of the US Open. If you enjoyed the USGA stepping in with a controversial call on Dustin Johnson, you’ll probably love the NBA. It’s officials are great at getting involved.
1.02am BST
The bulk of this year’s NBA playoffs was a letdown. Even the first six games of this series didn’t have a game that finished with a margin closer than 11 points. But I think we’ll forget all of that if tonight is awesome. Help us out, basketball gods (or NBA game-riggers, if you are of that school of thought).
12.58am BST
Nick Young isn’t known for always making the greatest decisions. And even he knows the NBA isn’t rigged.
Ain't shit rigged just play ball
12.54am BST
@DJGalloEtc I did not plan on it going to 7 games. Instead I schedule flight for the exact duration of the game. #stupid #Warriors #dubs
12.53am BST
Anderson Varejao getting in some last-minute stretching. You don’t want to hurt yourself flopping and be unavailable to flop later in the game.
Focused. #StrengthInNumbers pic.twitter.com/kslWp2KqLW
12.47am BST
Tipoff is in exactly 23 minutes.
My guess is this is not the last Michael Jordan reference we’ll hear tonight.
12.45am BST
I think the Warriors will win, but, well, I've said that before every single game they lost. @DJGalloEtc
Thank you for your honesty. But I will hold up my wrong record in this series to anyone.
12.39am BST
Defending champs are 8-1 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Only one to lose-- 2005 Pistons
This bit of historical precedence doesn’t have the same weight in this instance. Defending champs have an edge because they’re experienced in the Finals. But LeBron has been in the Finals every year since forever. He has more playoff experience than anyone on the Warriors and Cleveland has the momentum.
12.34am BST
Here’s Kevin Love making a shot in case we don’t see it again tonight:
Kevin Love getting ready for this WIN or GO home #Game7 of the #NBAFinals. Tips at 8pm/et on ABC. https://t.co/mBe3rPnYrj
12.30am BST
Good news for Warriors fans, Steph Curry is locked in!
Lock in! #DubNation
Lock In! #DubNation
Lock In! #DubNation
12.23am BST
Steve Kerr said he & Luke Walton stuck to their usual routine of doing hot yoga on gameday: "I bet Bill Belichick & his staff don't do that"
12.18am BST
I assumed much of the time between now and the start of the game would be filled with putting up Ayesha Curry’s various basketball conspiracy theory tweets, but she’s been focusing more on cooking that devious, league-wide plots over the last 24 hours or so.
So, instead, here’s a tweet from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr (from 2014):
If I had to pick 1 player to play a Game 7 on the road, I'd take LeBron 1st, KD 2nd and Joakim Noah 3rd. Noah is an amazing player/winner.
12.13am BST
There is still about an hour until the tip, so if you want to get into the game, you can grab tickets for just ... $735 a seat.
Most tickets are well into the thousands, however.
12.06am BST
Thousands of Cavaliers fans were already gathering outside Quicken Loans Arena two hours before tip-off in Oakland. Well, thousand of Cavaliers fans and one guy in a Darrelle Revis jersey.
Thousands in streets outside Quicken Loans Arena. #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/JiZ6h4Hn0P
12.02am BST
Good news for the Warriors: Steph Curry’s shooting accuracy might be back on the level of his mouthguard throwing accuracy.
First try for Steph: https://t.co/v1A7uq2JlL
12.00am BST
Game 7s in the championship round are obviously huge. And conspiracy theorists aside (hi, Ayesha Curry!), the NBA doesn’t produce them too often. Since 1994, there have been a grand total of three before tonight:
11.50pm BST
Welcome to the liveblog of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. As always, feel free to e-mail to the address above or tweet to @DJGalloetc to participate.
Some three weeks ago, before the Finals tipped, sports editor Tom Lutz assigned the liveblog duties for each scheduled game. One of the games I was booked for was Game 7. I didn’t expect the series to last that long, I didn’t think I’d be here tonight -- especially after Golden State went up 3-1 -- but here we are. Sports, yet again, have reminded all of us that as soon as we think we know what’s going to happen, everything changes.
4.57pm BST
DJ will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Hunter Felt with a comparison on the two teams:
It was never supposed to go to a Game 7. When the Golden State Warriors took a commanding 3-1 NBA finals lead by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4, it looked like the only remaining drama would be about which player on the Warriors would win MVP.
Then the Cavaliers took advantage of Draymond Green’s suspension and won Game 5 on the road. Then, on Thursday, they dominated the Warriors for all 48 minutes of Game 6 and tied up the series. Now we have a Game 7, where, as they say, anything is possible. While we can’t predict what will happen in one of the stranger finals in recent memory, we can see how these two teams stack up based on how they’ve played over the first six games of the series.
Related: Cavaliers or Warriors: who has the advantage for the Game 7 showdown?
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