If there’s one vital Miami Heat player who can share his extremely rare blueprint and experience in getting involved in the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history, it’s definitely Kevin Love.
Love, who was a standout member of the legendary, championship-winning Cleveland Cavaliers team in 2016, shared the important message he sent his Heat teammates in the wake of their painful Game 4 defeat at home to the Denver Nuggets that fell to a massive 3. -1 hole in this year’s finals.
Like I’ve been saying here ever since – we know anything can happen, ‘Love.’ Tell correspondents.
“It’s been done before… I’ve been a part of that.”
Cleveland’s epic 3-1 series comeback was the final cherry on top of the 2015-16 season. After coming close to collapsing in another Finals in the hands of a mighty Golden State Warriors team that posted a regular season record 73 wins behind consensus MVP Stephen Curry, the Cavs turned the switch, turned the tables and completed the unthinkable.
After a crushing defeat in Game 4, the Cavaliers haven’t lost that fiery intent to maintain their place amidst the dominant upper hand the Dubs have posted. In Game 5 back in the hostile building of Oracle Arena, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving delivered perhaps the greatest Finals performance by the duo as they both downed 41 each to send the series into Northeast Ohio and keep their campaign alive. And in Game 6, Cleveland absolutely crushed Golden State as James delivered another 41-point masterpiece to finally force the title game into the best of two words in sports: Game 7.
Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals was all a hotly contested rubber match and the players are stepping up their game to win the ultimate prize. As such, the series finale couldn’t be more remarkable due to the Cavaliers’ clutch plays sealing the deal with James pulling off an unrealistic and iconic stalking block over Andre Iguodala and Irving by sinking three match-winners on Curry with less than 1 minute remaining.
Thanks to a remarkable turn of events and an overall miraculous comeback, the Cavaliers clinched their first-ever NBA title and handed the entire city of Cleveland its first professional title in 52 years. Leading players from both teams in all five primary statistical categories, the hometown champ in James captured the Finals MVP after leading the Cavs’ unlikely run and delivering on its championship promise.
James and Irving have both amassed countless credits furthering the Cavs golden ride. But real people know that Love, amidst a seven-game series performance, did his part in a big way by displaying one of his most underrated defensive plays – shutting down Curry who attempted to counter Irving’s dagger in cold blood.
Love’s defensive stop against Curry is living testimony that his participation in the Cavs’ grand finale seven years ago is just what the Heat really needed in this grueling phase of their World Cup Finals saga against the Nuggets.
Love is also a testament that anything can still happen to Miami as the majestic Cinderella race is still alive and glowing and remains in the first place to paint more pictures of history after all they’ve been through.
Through 36 different scenarios of the 3-1 series going into the Finals stage, Love and the Cavs were the only ones to make their mark as the only team to beat. Despite what history says of those clubs that fell so badly behind that convincing margin of the Championship Series, still one of them is immeasurably better than zero.
“You really have to take one possession at a time,” Love added. “Forget the game. It’s just one possession, a quarter and a half, carry it out by any means necessary and we’ll figure out the rest.”