NBA Finals Results 2016: Kevin Love gets last laugh of remarkable series

As the NBA Finals results 2016 come pouring following an epic Game 7 in Oakland, a big takeaway is the play of Kevin Love.

In one of the more memorable Game 7 death matches of any kind in recent memory, the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed through and brought a championship back to Ohio.

It’s the city’s first title in any of the major professional sports since the Cleveland Browns won it all in the mid-1960’s — a time where the NBA was still continuing to grow and had less than ten teams in action.

While LeBron James‘ pursuit of a title for his hometown is the biggest headline of the series and season aside from the collapse of Golden State, the effort put in by Kevin Love cannot go unnoticed.

Love’s impact wasn’t so much on the scoreboard, as he only pitched in nine points for Cleveland in a starting role, but rather on the boards.

James got practically no rest as he played 47 of 48 grueling minutes of basketball — so Love’s 14 boards allowed for both James and Kyrie Irving to lead the way.

Late defense from Love on Stephen Curry that helped seal Golden State’s fate was another strong reminder that it’s foolish to underestimate someone in Love’s position.

Overall, Love’s series wasn’t too impressive, but if he hadn’t gotten busy when the team needed his presence with the title on the line we might be talking about back-to-back championships for Golden State.

Moving forward, there’s still plenty of questions about where LeBron James will end up next season, among other free agents on the market.

Cleveland is going to be in shock for a while, but thankfully for fans that have waited this long, it’s the kind that comes with the bright side of disbelief.

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Because their team needed more than historic performances to get it done and it somehow came to be.

No team had ever come back from being down 3-1 in an NBA Finals series before Cleveland managed to do so this season — which goes nicely with the title banner they’ll get to raise after earning it the hard way.

Some might go as far as to argue that the championship series was rigged or bought out due to the potential for television ratings as well as a plethora of money for the league, teams involved, and associated sponsors — and they have a right to be frustrated, but aren’t necessarily correct.

The untimely suspension of Draymond Green for what now was the critical game for the Warriors in Game 5 at Oracle Arena and the appearing to lean towards one team over the over in different games only helps that argument, but it shouldn’t take away from the basketball we saw in the finale.

While that is still a theory up for grabs, if you didn’t think Game 7 was a great contest then it’s likely you took not having a dog in the fight to a new level.

The Warriors are left without any answers, Cleveland is finally getting a taste of victory, and many of us are still here wondering how it even went down.

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All that’s for certain is that when these teams square off next season — whether in the regular season or perhaps in the Finals again — things will be a little more than just heated.