Cavs Reach the NBA Finals: Today in Sports History

On May 26th, 2015, the Cleveland Cavaliers completed a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference Finals over the Atlanta Hawks, winning Game 4 by 30 points. LeBron James led all scorers with 23 points in the 118-88 win, shooting 10 for 20 from the field. Five additional Cavaliers finished scoring in the double-digits, including 18 points off the bench for J.R. Smith. Smith also gathered ten defensive rebounds, giving him one of two double-doubles for Cleveland alongside Tristan Thompson’s 16 and 11. The Hawks’ leading scorer was Jeff Teague with 17 points. His fellow starters put up decent enough numbers, but Al Horford completely disappeared. After averaging 14 points for each of the first three games in the series, Horford hit just one of his six shot attempts for two points in the series finale. This marked LeBron’s fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals, and his first in Cleveland since 2007. Ultimately, LeBron would reach the NBA Finals in every season during his second run with the Cavaliers, making eight straight.