2015 NBA Finals (ITEOAH)

The **2015 NBA Finals** was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2014–15 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers in 5 games, winning their first NBA title since becoming a team in 1995. Mike Conley would be named Finals MVP after averaging 23.8 PPG, 7.4 APG, 4.6 RPG, and getting a quadruple double in Game 4, scoring 31 points, getting 11 assists, stealing the ball 10 times, and grabbing 10 rebounds. In an interview in 2025, while he was playing with the Nets, when asked if he believed Conley deserved his Finals MVP, James Harden, who averaged over 33 PPG for the Finals said, "It could've gone either way. I may have had a dominant scoring series but Conley not only had the quadruple double, he was plain not afraid to let others steal the spotlight from him, and when it wasn’t on him, the Cavaliers overlooked him, letting him pass the ball and set us all up, the 2015 Grizzlies, all of us, we wouldn't have been where we were without Mike Conley."

The Grizzlies, with one of the most dominant cores in NBA history, were lead by 2014–15 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) James Harden, with a set of co-stars highlighted by All Star and 2014-15 Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol, high scoring All Star Kevin Love, first time All Star Mike Conley (who would be named Finals MVP), and former All Star and member of that year's second all-defensive team Zach Randolph. The Cavaliers on the other hand, were lead by three-time league MVP LeBron James, with a big three with himself, first time All Star Kemba Walker, newly acquired multiple time All Star DeMarcus Cousins, who was traded from the Kings because of his attitude on the court. This year, Cousins managed to mature, and Walker blossomed. But in their playoff run, Cousins got hurt in the second round, and Walker was injured in Game 2 of the Finals.

In the Finals itself, the Grizzlies were very healthy going in, and with a healthy lineup, would blow out the Cavaliers in Game 1 by 27 points, led by 31 points by Harden. In Game 2, LeBron would dominate scoring 45 points, but with the Grizzlies down 2 with 4 seconds on the clock, Kevin Love got the ball and passed to Marc Gasol, who would sink a game-winning, buzzer beating 3 pointer to give the Grizzlies a 97-96 victory, with Gasol scoring 27 of those points. In Game 3, the setting would change to Cleveland, where the Cavaliers would win by 17 with LeBron putting in yet another great performance with 36 points despite 28 from Kevin Love. But in Game 4, the Grizzlies would comeback from an 11 point deficit in the 4th and won by 10, led by Conley's aforementioned quadruple double, along with 47 points from Harden. And in Game 5, with the series back in Memphis, the Grizzlies won in yet another blowout, beating the Cavs by 30, with Harden capping off an impressive Finals with 37 points, while Conley chipped in a double double with 25 points and 10 assists. LeBron James also became the first player in NBA Finals history to lead both teams in points, assists, and rebounds for the entire series. He averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists for the series, although he shot 39.8% throughout the series. For the second straight year, the Finals was played in the 2–2–1–1–1 format (Games 1, 2, and 5 were at Memphis, games 3, and 4 were at Cleveland. Had they been necessary, Game 6 would be held in Cleveland, and Game 7 would have been held in Memphis). The series began on June 4, 2015, ending on June 14. In the United States, it was televised on ABC and in Canada on TSN.