page_title: 2016 NBA Finals
section_title: Game 6
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 NBA Finals / Game summaries / Game 6
caption_attribution_description: Steph Curry (left) and LeBron James (right) during game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals between Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers
context_page_description: The 2016 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association 2015–16 season and conclusion of the 2016 playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors 4–3 in a rematch of the 2015 NBA Finals. It was the 14th rematch of the previous NBA Finals in history, and the first Finals since 2008 in which the number one seed in each conference met. It was the second straight rematch in back-to-back years, as the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs played each other in 2013 and 2014.
  Golden State, which earned home-court advantage with setting the NBA regular season wins record, jumped to a 2–0 lead in the series while recording the largest combined margin of victory through two games in NBA Finals history. Cleveland returned home and responded with a 120–90 win in Game 3, but the Warriors won Game 4 to take a 3–1 series lead. The Cavaliers won the next three games to become the first team in Finals history to successfully overcome a 3–1 deficit. It also marked the first time since 1978 that Game 7 was won by the road team.
context_section_description: The Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 115–101 in Game 6 to even the series 3–3. The Cavaliers scored the game's first eight points en route to outscoring the Warriors 31–11 after one quarter. Golden State rallied to trim Cleveland's lead as low as eight points on a couple of occasions before the Cavs settled for a 59–43 halftime lead, with Tristan Thompson having his best performance of the series, registering a double-double in the first half alone. In the second half, Cleveland continued to extend their lead and tied the series. LeBron James led the Cavs with a historic performance of 41 points, 11 assists, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks whilst only committing 1 turnover. Kyrie Irving added 23 points, while Tristan Thompson had 16 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 30 points, drilling six threes, and Klay Thompson added 25 points. Back from suspension, Green was held to just eight points on 3–7 shooting.
  James scored 18 straight points for Cleveland from the end of the third quarter to the 7:00 mark of the fourth. Late in the game with the Cavaliers up by 13, he blocked a Curry shot from behind, and afterward had some words for him. With 4:22 left, Curry received his sixth foul and fouled out of the game. He then threw his mouthpiece into the stands in frustration, resulting in a technical foul and his ejection from the game. Curry was the first MVP to foul out of an NBA Finals game since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000. The Cavaliers became the third team to fall behind 3–1 and force Game 7 (and the first in 50 years). James was the first player to have consecutive 40-point games in the Finals since, coincidentally, Shaquille O'Neal in the 2000 Finals. Following the game, Curry and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr were fined $25,000 each for their actions and public officiating criticism.
caption: LeBron James charging at Stephen Curry during Game 6.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D7200", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2016:06:18 11:14:04", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "916", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13091", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:06:16 21:24:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:06:16 21:24:03", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1165241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "290241/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "47/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "145", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "28", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "28", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "217", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[55, 200, 4, 28/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "55.0-200.0 mm f/4.0-5.6"}