Greatest Playoff Series Wins for the Cavs

By Guest Blogger Jesse Lamovsky

Let’s be honest — since they first laced them up in the fall of 1970, the Cleveland Cavaliers have never been the first and last name in NBA excellence. Still, despite its largely bleak history, the franchise has had its moments, and here are the best of them. The five greatest playoff-series wins for the Cavaliers:

5.) 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals – Cleveland 4, Boston 3
The Cavaliers won their first best-of-seven series since the Miracle Year of 1976 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in franchise history as they outlasted an aging but still potent Celtics team. It wasn’t a particularly close series on a game-by-game basis — four of the seven games were decided by 16 or more points. But amidst the blowouts stood one certified thriller. That was Game 4, a 114-112 white-knuckle classic won by the Cavaliers in overtime to tie the series at two games apiece. Cleveland won that game despite the best efforts of the late Reggie Lewis, who scorched the Cavs for 42 points (Lewis averaged 28.1 points per game in the series, proving that Michael Jordan wasn’t the only wing player whose eyes lit up at the sight of a Cleveland uniform.) In the deciding seventh game at the Coliseum, six Cavaliers scored in double figures and Cleveland rang the curtain on Larry Bird’s career with a dominating 122-104 victory.

4.) 2006 Eastern Conference First Round – Cleveland 4, Washington 2
Making their first playoff appearance since 1998, the Cavaliers made their return to the postseason a stylish one, as they squeezed by the Wizards in a series that saw three games decided by a total of three points. LeBron James won two of those games with last-second shots. In Game 3, his contested leaner in the lane gave Cleveland a 97-96 victory. In Game 5, he tiptoed (some would say traveled) along the baseline and hit a lay-up just before the buzzer to win the game 121-120. And in Game 6, Damon Jones — who had entered the game for the first time just 14 seconds earlier — drilled a corner jumper with five seconds left in overtime to give Cleveland the game, and the series, 114-113. It was the first time since 1992 that the Cavaliers had advanced in the playoffs.

Image: Newscom

3.) 2007 Eastern Conference Finals- Cleveland 4, Detroit 2
Playing in their first East Final since 1992, the Cavaliers fell behind 2-0 with a pair of heartbreaking losses at the Palace of Auburn Hills. But then the series shifted to Cleveland, and LeBron James took over. In Game 3, he punctuated his 32-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist performance with the play of the series, his fourth-quarter dunk in the face of Rasheed Wallace. In Game 4, he went for 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds as the Cavaliers tied the series with a 91-87 win. Game 5 saw LeBron’s performance for the ages, as he scored 29 of his team’s last 30 points and hit the game-winning lay-up with 2.2 left in overtime. And in Game 6, it was the Daniel Gibson Show, as the rookie poured in 31 points on just nine shots to lead Cleveland to a series-clinching 98-82 victory in front of a delirious crowd at the Q.

2.) 1976 Eastern Conference Semifinals – Cleveland 4, Washington 3
The Miracle of Richfield. More than three decades removed, the first playoff series in franchise history is still the best playoff series in franchise history. Four of the seven games in this marathon were decided either in the last five seconds or in overtime, and the Cavaliers won three of them. In Game 2, Cleveland prevailed 80-79 when Bobby “Bingo” Smith drilled a 25-footer with two seconds to play. In Game 5, the Cavaliers trailed 91-90 and Washington’s Elvin Hayes had an opportunity to put the game away at the free-throw line with six seconds left. But he missed both foul shots, and Jim Cleamons dropped in a put-back lay-up at the buzzer to give Cleveland a 92-91 victory. In Game 7, played in front of 21,000 screaming Cavaliers partisans at the old Richfield Coliseum, Dick Snyder broke an 85-85 tie when he banked in a left-handed runner with four seconds to play. When the Bullets’ Phil Chenier missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, fans poured onto the floor, mobbed the Cavaliers players, and in an unconscious homage to Cleveland’s reputation as a football town, tore down the baskets.

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And the number-one Cavaliers playoff-series victory? It hasn’t been played yet. Maybe we’ll see it in June.

Jesse Lamovsky is lifelong Cleveland sports fan and a sometimes sports writer. Learn more about Jesse and his writing at swerbsblurbs.com.