The 2016 NBA Finals wasn’t just about a trophy; it was about a city that had waited 52 years for a win and a team that refused to fold when the world counted them out. Heading into that winner-take-all Game 7, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors were perfectly even, having both scored exactly 610 points through the first six games of the series. The tension inside Oracle Arena was thick, and by the fourth quarter, every single possession felt like a battle for survival.
With just under five minutes left, the score sat at 89-89, what followed was one of the most stressful stretches of basketball ever played. For nearly four minutes, neither team could buy a bucket. The stars were out of gas. LeBron James missed a jumper, Stephen Curry missed from deep, and the nerves of the moment seemed to make the rim shrink for everyone on the floor. It felt like the first team to blink would lose it all.
The play that changed everything happened with 1:50 remaining. After Kyrie Irving missed a layup, the Warriors took off on a fast break. Andre Iguodala caught a pass from Curry and went up for what looked like an easy, go-ahead layup. Out of nowhere, James sprinted from the opposite side of the court, timed his jump perfectly, and pinned the ball against the glass.
That defensive stop set the stage for Irving to create his own legend. With 53 seconds left on the clock, Irving found himself one-on-one with Curry. He stayed composed, took a side-step to his right, and buried a massive three-pointer that gave the Cavaliers the lead for good. It was the shot that finally broke the curse.
James finished the game with a triple-double—27 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists—becoming the unanimous Finals MVP. When the clock hit zero, the image of him collapsing on the court in tears showed exactly what this meant. By coming back from a 3-1 deficit, the Cavaliers didn’t just make history; they proved that heart and hustle can overcome even the steepest odds. Ten years later, we still talk about that block and that shot because they represent the moment a promise to a city was finally kept.