2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers season


The 2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 46th season of the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise in the National Basketball Association. The Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA championship, which was the first NBA championship in franchise history.
In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in four games in the First Round, then swept the Atlanta Hawks in four games in the Semifinals, before finally defeating the Toronto Raptors in six games in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for a second consecutive year. There, the Cavaliers faced off against the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors, 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 Golden State Warriors 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 since 1964, ending a 52–year championship drought dating back to the 1964 NFL title won by the Cleveland Browns. 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 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.

Postseason summary

In the first two rounds of the 2016 NBA playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, respectively. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors in six games.
The Cavaliers lost three of the first four games of the 2016 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, who had defeated Cleveland in the finals the year before. In turn, the Cavaliers won Games 5 and 6 of the series to bring about a climactic Game 7 at Oracle Arena.
With Game 7 tied at 89–89, LeBron James chased down and blocked Andre Iguodala'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 in franchise history. Up until then, no team recovered from a 3–1 deficit in an NBA Finals series. James was named the unanimous NBA Finals MVP, receiving the award for the third time in his career.

Draft picks

RoundPickPlayerPositionNationalityCollege/Club team
124Tyus JonesPGDuke
253Sir'Dominic PointerSG / SFSt. John's

Roster

Player statistics

Regular season

Standings

Preseason

Regular season game log

Playoffs

Game log

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Re-signed

Additions

Subtractions

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Records