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| Dates | June 7–14 | |||||||||
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| MVP | Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Spurs: Tim Duncan (2020) Manu Ginóbili (2022) Tony Parker (2023) Coaches: Gregg Popovich (2023) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015) Danny Crawford (2025) | |||||||||
| Eastern finals | Cavaliers defeatedPistons, 4–2 | |||||||||
| Western finals | Spurs defeatedJazz, 4–1 | |||||||||
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The2007 NBA Finals was thechampionship series of theNational Basketball Association's (NBA)2006–07 season and conclusion ofthe season's playoffs. In thisbest-of-seven playoff series, theWestern Conference championSan Antonio Spurs defeated theEastern Conference championCleveland Cavaliers in a 4–0 sweep. This was Cleveland's first trip to the NBA Finals in their franchise history (as well as the first forLeBron James) and San Antonio's fourth.Tony Parker was named the series'MVP. The series was televised onABC under theESPN on ABC branding, and produced the lowest television ratings in NBA Finals history until2020.
This series was the last sweep in the NBA Finals until2018, which also involved the Cavaliers on the losing end.
The Finals were played using the 2-3-2 format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team withhome court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals in1985. The other playoff series were played in the 2-2-1-1-1 format.
Thebest-of-seven series began on June 7, 2007, with theWestern Conference champion San Antonio Spurs playing theEastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Because the San Antonio Spurs had a better regular season win–loss record, they had home court advantage.
TheCleveland Cavaliers won both games in the regular season series:
The previous season saw the San Antonio Spurs drop a heartbreaking seventh game at home to the rivalDallas Mavericks in the second round. As the new season began, the Spurs saw the Mavericks rolling through their regular season, on their way to a franchise best 67 win campaign. Meanwhile, the Spurs struggled through their season through January. With the main focus lying on Dallas and thePhoenix Suns, the Spurs found themselves flying under the radar. A late-season surge resulted in a 58–24 regular season record, good enough for third seed in the Western Conference.
In the playoffs, the Spurs met theDenver Nuggets and their duo ofAllen Iverson andCarmelo Anthony. The Nuggets took game 1, but the Spurs reeled off 4 straight wins to take the series in five games. As San Antonio prepared to face off against the second seed Suns, the top-ranked Mavericks suffered a stunning first-round exit at the hands of theGolden State Warriors. With the Mavericks gone, the stakes of the Suns-Spurs series shot up dramatically, and it was a closely competitive and controversial series.
The Suns hadhomecourt advantage, but that did not last past game 1. In a hotly contested battle of Western Conference heavyweights, each team tried to deliver a knockout blow. The Spurs finally landed it, but by accident. With the game in the balanceTony Parker andSteve Nash collided head-to-head. A large gash opened along Nash's nose and the medical staff could not stop the bleeding. He was forced to sit out the final 45 seconds and watch the Spurs win, 111–106. Game 2 saw the Suns rebound and blow out the Spurs, 101–81. After this game, Suns centerAmar'e Stoudemire called the Spurs a dirty team. Game 3 switched back to San Antonio and saw a return of physical play, withManu Ginóbili receiving a bruised and bloodied eye and Bruce Bowen kneeing Nash in the groin.Tim Duncan led the Spurs to a 108–101 victory.
Games 4 and 5 were the most controversial of the series. The Spurs, after being comfortably in control of game 4, saw their 11-point fourth-quarter lead dwindle away to a 2-point Suns lead. With 18 seconds left,Robert Horry bodychecked Nash into the scorers' table. Nash's teammates jumped to his defense; during the ensuing altercation, Stoudemire andBoris Diaw left the bench. Their action violated NBA rules, and league commissionerDavid Stern suspended both players for game 5. Horry was also suspended two games for his flagrant foul on Nash. In game 5, in Phoenix, the short-handed Suns jumped out early to a 16-point lead, but in a reversal of game 4, the Spurs came back in the final seconds and won the game 88–85, giving San Antonio a 3–2 series lead.
The Spurs won game 6 of the series 114–106 in San Antonio, sending them to their fifth Western Conference finals since 1999.
San Antonio went on to beat theUtah Jazz in five games to advance to the franchise's fourth NBA Finals.
In the replay of the previous year's playoffs with the Cavaliers holding home court advantage againstWashington Wizards, the Cavaliers swept the Wizards after the season-ending injuries of bothGilbert Arenas andCaron Butler. In the second round of the playoffs, the Cavaliers faced theNew Jersey Nets. Again, the Cavaliers had home court advantage, and battled the Nets through 6 games before winning the series. The Cavaliers advanced to the conference finals for only the third time in franchise history, and faced a familiar foe: theDetroit Pistons, the number one seed in the Eastern Conference, with their home court advantage. This was the same Detroit team that knocked the Cavaliers out of the second round the previous year. Expectations were high after a 7-game series the previous year and the two teams did not disappoint.
The first two games were close and saw Cleveland fall by identical 79–76 scores. Down 0–2 in the series, the spotlight shifted back to Cleveland andLeBron James. Another hard-fought set ensued, with the Cavaliers taking the two games at home 88-82 and 91-87 respectively. Game 5 switched back to Detroit and produced one of the greatest moments in NBA history.
With 6:14 to go in regulation and his team clinging to a one-point 79–78 lead, James took over the game. He scored 11 of the final 12 points to end regulation tied 91-91. In the first overtime, James scored all nine of the Cavaliers' points, ending the period tied 100-100. In the second overtime, James again scored all nine of the team's points to win, 109–107. Thus, in the last 16:14 of play, James scored 29 of the Cavaliers' last 30 points, as well as all of their last 25 points.
The Cavaliers beat the Pistons at home in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to earn the franchise's first trip to the NBA Finals. Cleveland became the third team in NBA history to win a best-of-sevenconference finals series after trailing by 2 games.
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| Head coach Assistant(s) Legend
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| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brent Barry | 4 | 0 | 10.6 | .364 | .400 | .000 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| Bruce Bowen | 4 | 4 | 41.7 | .296 | .389 | .250 | 5.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 6.0 |
| Tim Duncan | 4 | 4 | 37.3 | .446 | .000 | .625 | 11.5 | 3.8 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 18.3 |
| Francisco Elson | 4 | 0 | 11.4 | 1.000 | .000 | .800 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 4.0 |
| Michael Finley | 4 | 4 | 18.5 | .261 | .083 | .667 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| Manu Ginóbili | 4 | 0 | 29.3 | .367 | .435 | .833 | 5.8 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 17.8 |
| Robert Horry | 4 | 0 | 22.0 | .333 | .375 | .750 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Fabricio Oberto | 4 | 4 | 20.8 | .471 | .000 | .333 | 4.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 4.3 |
| Tony Parker | 4 | 4 | 37.8 | .568 | .571 | .526 | 5.0 | 3.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 24.5 |
| Beno Udrih | 2 | 0 | 0.6 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jacque Vaughn | 4 | 0 | 10.1 | .571 | .000 | .000 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 |
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shannon Brown | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Daniel Gibson | 4 | 2 | 34.8 | .439 | .316 | 1.000 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 10.8 |
| Drew Gooden | 4 | 4 | 27.5 | .500 | .000 | .875 | 8.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 12.8 |
| Larry Hughes | 2 | 2 | 21.9 | .100 | .000 | .000 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Zydrunas Ilgauskas | 4 | 4 | 25.8 | .351 | .000 | .833 | 10.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 7.8 |
| LeBron James | 4 | 4 | 42.6 | .356 | .200 | .690 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 22.0 |
| Damon Jones | 4 | 0 | 16.2 | .455 | .556 | 1.000 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 |
| Donyell Marshall | 4 | 0 | 15.3 | .313 | .182 | .750 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 3.8 |
| Ira Newble | 1 | 0 | 10. | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Aleksandar Pavlović | 4 | 4 | 31.7 | .364 | .417 | .333 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 9.8 |
| Scot Pollard | 1 | 0 | 0.9 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Eric Snow | 4 | 0 | 10.2 | .400 | .000 | .500 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Anderson Varejão | 4 | 0 | 24.5 | .667 | .000 | .625 | 5.3 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 7.5 |
| Game | Date | Road team | Result | Home team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | June 7 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 76–85 (0–1) | San Antonio Spurs |
| Game 2 | June 10 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 92–103 (0–2) | San Antonio Spurs |
| Game 3 | June 12 | San Antonio Spurs | 75–72 (3–0) | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| Game 4 | June 14 | San Antonio Spurs | 83–82 (4–0) | Cleveland Cavaliers |
TheCleveland Cavaliers entered the 2007 Finals as newcomers. Game 1 was their first NBA Finals game in franchise history, and the first for each of its players (other than reserve point guardEric Snow). However, theSan Antonio Spurs had been to the Finals in three of the past eight seasons, winning a championship each time. With solid performances byTim Duncan,Tony Parker, andManu Ginóbili, the Spurs won the series opener in convincing fashion, limiting LeBron James to 14 points on 4–16 shooting.
June 7 9:00 p.m.(8:00 p.m.CDT) |
| Cleveland Cavaliers 76,San Antonio Spurs85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 20–20, 14–24,27–21 | ||
| Pts:Daniel Gibson 16 Rebs:LeBron James 7 Asts:James,Gibson 4 each TOs:LeBron James 6 | Pts:Tony Parker 27 Rebs:Tim Duncan 13 Asts:Tony Parker 7 Blocks:Tim Duncan 5 | |
| San Antonio leads series, 1-0 | ||
AT&T Center,San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 18,797 Referees:
|
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 dominated the game during the 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.
June 10 9:00 p.m.(8:00 p.m.CDT) |
| Cleveland Cavaliers 92,San Antonio Spurs103 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 16–30, 29–31,30–14 | ||
| Pts:LeBron James 25 Rebs:Anderson Varejão 10 Asts:LeBron James 6 TOs:LeBron James 6 | Pts:Tony Parker 30 Rebs:Duncan,Horry 9 each Asts:Tim Duncan 8 Blks:Robert Horry 5 | |
| San Antonio leads series, 2-0 | ||
AT&T Center,San Antonio, Texas Attendance: 18,797 Referees:
|
RookieDaniel Gibson started Game 3 in place of the injuredLarry 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.
Game 3 was the lowest scoring Finals game since1955, withTim Duncan of the Spurs having his lowest scoring game in his NBA Finals career, with 14 points.
June 12 9:00 p.m. |
| San Antonio Spurs75,Cleveland Cavaliers 72 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–18,24–20,15–12, 20–22 | ||
| Pts:Tony Parker 17 Rebs:Duncan,Bowen 9 each Asts:Manu Ginóbili 5 Stls:Michael Finley 4 | Pts:LeBron James 25 Rebs:Žydrūnas Ilgauskas 18 Asts:LeBron James 7 TOs:LeBron James 5 | |
| San Antonio leads series, 3-0 | ||
Quicken Loans Arena,Cleveland, Ohio Attendance: 20,562 Referees:
|
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.
June 14 9:00 p.m. |
| San Antonio Spurs83,Cleveland Cavaliers 82 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–20,20–14,21–18, 23–30 | ||
| Pts:Manu Ginóbili 27 Rebs:Tim Duncan 15 Asts:Manu Ginóbili 5 TOs:Tim Duncan 6 | Pts:LeBron James 24 Rebs:Žydrūnas Ilgauskas 13 Asts:LeBron James 10 TOs:LeBron James 6 | |
| San Antonio wins NBA Finals, 4-0 | ||
Quicken Loans Arena,Cleveland, Ohio Attendance: 20,562 Referees:
|
Twelve-year veteranMichael Finley was awarded the NBA championship game ball.
Coverage was produced byESPN and televised onABC in the United States,TSN in Canada,Sky Sports in the United Kingdom,Canal+ in France,Premiere in Germany, and more than 100 other broadcasters in over 200 countries. The local ABC stations in each city wereKSAT-TV in San Antonio andWEWS-TV in Cleveland; this was the smallest TV market-sized finals until the2025 NBA Finals between theOklahoma City Thunder andIndiana Pacers.
Play-by-play announcerMike Breen, analystsMark Jackson and formerRockets head-coachJeff Van Gundy, and courtside reportersMichele Tafoya andStuart Scott provided commentary and analysis for the North American market. The radio coverage onESPN Radio features play-by-play manMike Tirico and color analystsDr. Jack Ramsay andHubie Brown.
This was the first of a record 15 NBA Finals assignments for the team of Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy. With the exception of the2012 and2013 Finals (Jackson was head coach of theGolden State Warriors during this period), the trio would call every NBA Finals until2023, including every one of LeBron James' NBA Finals appearances with the Cleveland Cavaliers. (In the2022 NBA Finals,Mark Jones alongside Mark Jackson called Game 1 of the series with Breen and Van Gundy out due to COVID-19 protocols; Van Gundy returned in Game 2 followed by Breen in Game 3.)
The featured song, aired throughout the playoffs, wasThe Pussycat Dolls "Right Now."
Another song featured in the 2007 NBA Finals series, "It Ends Tonight" byThe All-American Rejects, was aired at the end of the pre-game promo for Game 4.
According to ESPN, the NBA Finals series was a television bust in the United States.[1] San Antonio's four-game sweep of Cleveland finished with a record-low 6.2 television rating and 11 share on ABC, Nielsen Media Research said on June 15, 2007.
That was down 27 percent from the 8.5/15 forMiami's six-game victory overDallas fromthe previous year and 5 percent under the previous low, a 6.5/12 for San Antonio's six-game win overNew Jersey in2003.
San Antonio's series-winning 83–82 victory on Thursday night got a 6.5/12, down 17 percent from the 7.8/14 for Game 4 in 2006.
Despite having the lowest ratings of any NBA championship series, game two of the 2003 series between San Antonio and New Jersey remains the lowest-rated game of all time in the history of the NBA Finals.
The Spurs won 56 games in the succeeding2007–08 season, but relinquished theSouthwest Division title to theNew Orleans Hornets due to a tie-breaker. The Spurs had the last laugh, though, defeating the Hornets in seven games. But their chance of defending their title was denied by theLos Angeles Lakers in five games of the conference finals. After that, age and injury took its toll on the Spurs, as they proceeded to win only a single playoff series in three years (2010, vs.Dallas 4–2 of the first round), before getting upset by theMemphis Grizzlies in the first round of the2011 NBA playoffs despite finishing with 61 wins.
The Spurs then retooled their roster, after which they appeared in three consecutive conference finals, beginning in2012, before making the NBA Finals in2013 and2014 against James and theMiami Heat. The Spurs split the two Finals meetings against the Heat.
The Cavaliers won 45 games in the 2007–08 season, despite early-season contract issues involving centerAnderson Varejão and guardSasha Pavlović, and a mid-season trade forBen Wallace. Theyfell in the second round to the eventual NBA championsBoston Celtics in seven games, after a hard-fought duel involving LeBron James andPaul Pierce. The Cavaliers would earn the league's best record for the next two years (66 and 61 wins, respectively) and boast theNBA's MVP in James. However, they were unable to win it all, losing to theOrlando Magic in six games of the2009 Eastern Conference finals and the Celtics in six games of the2010 Eastern Conference semifinals (allowing the Lakers to win the Finals twice against the Magic and Celtics). The latter playoff defeat would cost head coach Mike Brown his job, though he was later re-hired (and fired again) in the2013–14 NBA season. After that season, as a free agent, James left for theMiami Heat and helped them to four successive NBA Finals appearances, winning in2012 and 2013, while the Cavaliers sunk to an Eastern Conference-low 19 wins in the2010–11 NBA season, which included a26-game losing streak.
The Cavaliers then appeared in theNBA draft lottery four consecutive times, earning the top pick in three of them. Those three top picks becameKyrie Irving (2011),Anthony Bennett (2013) andAndrew Wiggins (2014) (Bennett and Wiggins were later traded to Minnesota forKevin Love). In July 2014, James announced his return to the Cavaliers after the hiring of coachDavid Blatt, and they reached theconference finals against theAtlanta Hawks with a 4–0 sweep before falling to theGolden State Warriors in theFinals 4–2. The following season, the Cavaliers returned to the Finals in a rematch against theGolden State Warriors and won theFinals over the Warriors 4–3 withLeBron James winning theFinals MVP.
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