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 (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.
2015–16 Cleveland Cavaliers season | |
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NBA champions | |
Conference champions | |
Division champions | |
Head coach |
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General manager | David Griffin |
Owner(s) | Dan Gilbert |
Arena | Quicken Loans Arena |
Results | |
Record | 57–25 (.695) |
Place | Division: 1st (Central) Conference: 1st (Eastern) |
Playoff finish | NBA Champions (Defeated Warriors 4–3) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Local media | |
Television | Fox Sports Ohio |
Radio |
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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 Semi-finals, 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.