The Warriors, led by the duo of Klay Thompson and 2014–15 MVP Stephen Curry, won the opening game at home in overtime.

Golden State's Andre Iguodala was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).

[4] The Warriors entered the 2014–15 season after replacing Mark Jackson with Steve Kerr as head coach.

Revamping Golden State's offense, Kerr employed elements of the triangle offense from his playing days with the Chicago Bulls under Phil Jackson, the spacing and pace of Gregg Popovich from his playing days in San Antonio with the Spurs, and the uptempo principles Alvin Gentry used in Phoenix when Kerr was the GM.

[5] In Kerr's first year, the Warriors finished with the best regular season record at 67–15, including an incredible 39–2 in home games.

Kerr became the winningest rookie head coach in NBA history, passing Tom Thibodeau and his 62 wins with the Chicago Bulls in 2010–11.

The Cavaliers acquired J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert from the Knicks in exchange for draft picks while sending Dion Waiters to the Thunder.

The Cavaliers and Warriors tied the regular season series 1–1, with each team winning its home game.

[17] In Game Four, after Golden State had fallen behind 2–1 in the series, Kerr moved swingman Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup and brought center Andrew Bogut off the bench.

[20] Combining regular season and playoff games, the Warriors finished 83–20, the third-best record ever behind the Chicago Bulls in 1995–96 (87–13) and 1996–97 (84–17).

James's potential game-winning jumper was off, and then Iman Shumpert got the offensive rebound and threw a shot at the buzzer, but also missed, sending the game to overtime.

Cleveland's only score in the extra period was James's layup with 9.5 seconds left as the Cavaliers shot 1/12 and committed 3 turnovers in the game's final 5 minutes.

The following day, he was diagnosed with a fractured left kneecap that would require surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the Finals, joining Kevin Love, who suffered a dislocated shoulder against the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, and Anderson Varejão.

[27] The Cavaliers defeated the Warriors 95–93 in overtime, tying the series at 1–1 and stealing homecourt advantage heading into Cleveland.

After three tight quarters, the Cavaliers began to pull away, building an 83–72 lead with just over 3 minutes remaining in the fourth.

However, the Cavaliers squandered the 11-point lead as the Warriors went on a 15–4 run to tie the game at 87, capped off by a Curry finger roll layup with eight seconds remaining.

Out of a timeout, James drove towards the basket as he went for a game winning layup, but he misfired, and the rebound tipback attempt by Tristan Thompson was unsuccessful.

[31] In the overtime, Iman Shumpert hit a three-pointer, and James made two free throws, giving the Cavaliers a 92–87 lead.

However, Draymond Green answered with back-to-back baskets, and Curry hit two free throws to give the Warriors a 93–92 lead.

Out of the timeout, James's go-ahead layup was blocked by Green and recovered by Andre Iguodala, but he threw it out of bounds, giving possession back to the Cavaliers.

The ensuing Cavaliers possession resulted in a three-point attempt by James Jones which missed, but Dellavedova grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled.

The Cavaliers handed the Warriors their 4th home loss of the season (including the postseason) and were only the second Eastern Conference team to win at Oracle Arena (the Chicago Bulls also won in overtime on January 27).

[33] Following the game, James had dubbed the undermanned Cavaliers as "The Grit Squad", due to adopting a slower paced, more physical style of play in the absence of All-Stars Irving and Kevin Love.

[34] This new moniker was quickly embraced by Cavaliers fans, in hopes that this new tough style of play would be enough to offset the Warriors' depth advantage.

Curry hit a handful of three-pointers down the stretch, but the Cavs made their free throws and closed out the win.

In the second quarter, the Cavaliers got a scare when LeBron James suffered a laceration on his head from a courtside photographer's camera lens after a hard foul on Bogut, but he stayed in the game without any stitches.

[40] After the game, Kerr admitted to his deception regarding the starting lineup, quipping, "I don't think they hand you the trophy based on morality.

He became the second player in NBA Finals history to score 40 points in a triple double after Jerry West in 1969.

[54] Roster Roster In the United States, the NBA Finals aired on ABC (including the local affiliates WEWS-TV in Cleveland and KGO-TV in San Francisco/Oakland) with Mike Breen as play-by-play commentator, and Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy serving as color commentators.

ESPN Deportes provided exclusive Spanish-language coverage of The Finals, with a commentary team of Álvaro Martín and Carlos Morales.