Record 50–32 (.610) | Arena Quicken Loans Arena | |
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Playoff finish NBA Finals(Lost to Spurs 0-4) |
The 2006–07 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 37th season of NBA basketball in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavaliers finished the season with a 50–32 record, a second-place finish in the Central Division, became the champions of the Eastern Conference, and made their first ever NBA Finals appearance. However, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in four games. LeBron James was the team's leading scorer and finished in 2nd place in league MVP voting.
Contents
- Draft picks
- November
- December
- January
- February
- March
- April
- Player stats
- Awards
- Records
- Milestones
- All Star
- Trades
- Free agents
- Development League
- First Round
- Eastern Semifinals
- Eastern Finals
- Game 1
- Game 2
- Game 3
- Game 4
- References
The team's season roster is featured in the video games NBA 2K16 and NBA 2K17.
Key Dates:
Draft picks
*2nd round pick acquired from Philadelphia in Lee Nailon deal.
November
Record: 9-6; Home: 7-2; Away: 2-4
December
Record: 8–6; Home: 6–1; Road: 2–5
January
Record: 9–7; Home: 3–3; Road: 6–4
February
Record: 7–5; Home: 5–2; Road: 2–3
March
Record: 11–5; Home: 6–2; Road: 5–3
April
Record: 6–3; Home: 3–1; Road: 3–2
Player stats
Note: GP= Games played; GS = Games started; MIN= Minutes; FG% = field goal %, FT% = free throw %, 3FG% = 3 point % STL= Steals; BLK = Blocks; AST = Assists; REB = Rebounds; PTS = Points
Regular Season
Playoffs
Awards
Records
Milestones
All-Star
Trades
The Cavaliers did not make a trade during the 2006–07 NBA season.
Free agents
The Cavaliers did not sign any free agents during the 2006–07 NBA season.
Development League
First Round
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (7) Washington Wizards
A rematch of the previous year's first round series was spoiled when Wizards star Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler were both forced out of the playoffs due to injuries received in the later parts of the regular season. Without Arenas and Butler, the Wizards found themselves unable to stop LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers from sweeping them out of the playoffs. It was Cleveland's first playoff sweep in franchise history.
Eastern Semifinals
(2) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (6) New Jersey Nets
The Cavaliers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1992, while the Nets have lost in the Conference Semifinals in three out of the last four years.
New Jersey Nets point guard Jason Kidd averaged a triple double the entire playoffs, scoring 14.6 points, grabbing 10.9 rebounds and dishing out 10.9 assists per game.
The Cavaliers also got revenge of sorts, by eliminating the Nets two years after the Nets eliminated them on the final day of the regular season.
Eastern Finals
Conference Finals: (1) Detroit Pistons vs. (2) Cleveland Cavaliers
In a rematch of last year's thrilling second-round series, the Pistons and the Cavaliers matched up in perhaps one of the closest contested series in NBA history, with the first five games being decided by 6 points or less. The spotlight of the series fell on Cleveland's LeBron James. Despite gaining some momentum in the opening games of the series against the experienced Pistons, key last-second decisions by James led to Cleveland losses in Games 1 and 2 in Detroit, by identical scores where Cleveland led for most of the two games. They faced a 0–2 deficit for the second straight year but would easily remember from the year before they could win three straight games to get back into the series.
With media circles on his back for his complacency in these games (James had a playoff career low 10 points in Game 1), LeBron came back to will the Cavs to close victories in Games 3 and 4 in Cleveland, evening the series at 2. The series shifted back to Detroit for a Game 5 that proved to be one of the most memorable postseason games in recent NBA history. In a match that went into double overtime, the Cavaliers stunned the Pistons on their home court, thanks to LeBron James' playoff career-high 48 point performance. James scored the Cavaliers' final 25 points of the game, including all 18 points in overtime making it two straight two-point wins at the Palace in Game 5.
This time around the heavily favored Cavaliers took advantage of their home court in 2007 and exploded in Game 6 to close out the Pistons once and for all, and to clinch the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. Rookie Daniel Gibson scored his career high 31 points including five three-pointers to lift the Cavs in the second half behind a roaring home crowd.
Game 1
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers entered the 2007 Finals as newcomers. Game 1 was the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history, and the first for each of its players (other than reserve point guard Eric Snow). However, the San Antonio Spurs had been to the Finals in three of the past eight seasons, winning a championship each time. With solid performances by Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili, the Spurs won the series opener in convincing fashion, limiting LeBron James to 14 points on 4–16 shooting.
Game 2
The Spurs took a stranglehold on momentum in Game 2. The Spurs big three overwhelmed the Cavs and the Spurs led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter. They absolutely dominated game during first 3 quarters and played show-time basketball. A furious 25–6 rally by Cleveland in the final quarter wasn't enough as the Spurs took a 2–0 lead in the series.
Game 3
Rookie Daniel Gibson started Game 3 in place of the injured Larry Hughes but scored a series-low 2 points on 1–10 shooting. As a team the Cavs shot only .367 but out-rebounded the Spurs 48–41. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had a 2006–07 season high 18 rebounds. On the game's final play, LeBron James missed a potential game-tying 29 foot 3-pointer (which he contested as a foul on Bruce Bowen).
Game 3 was the lowest-scoring Finals game since 1955, with Tim Duncan of the Spurs having his lowest scoring game in his NBA Finals career, with 14 points.
Game 4
San Antonio started out strong through the first three quarters, leading by as many as 11. Cleveland would stage a rally near the end of the third quarter and the first five minutes of the fourth, scoring 14 consecutive points to take its first second-half lead of the series. However, the Spurs would stage a 12–3 rally of their own to retake the lead and win the series in a 4–0 sweep.