Lakers defeat Cavaliers in six games for their 18th NBA Championship
James wins Bill Russell MVP and now ties Kobe with five rings
Recap of Cavaliers/Lakers game played on June 5, 2025
The Los Angeles Lakers are the 2024-25 NBA Champions. Yes, you heard it right. The same Los Angeles Lakers that were below .500 for about three months of the season and were as low as number 13 in the Western Conference. They battled back to get into the play-in tournament, where the faced the LA Clippers and came out of that game with the seventh seed and a first-round matchup with the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers eliminated the Nuggets in five games thanks in large part to the offensive scoring outburst of Buddy Hield who had back-to-back 44-point games and set the NBA record for most three-pointers by a player in a single game. The Lakers faced the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals and pulled off a sweep against the young and energetic Rockets. They took on division rival, the Phoenix Suns once again in the Western Conference Finals and eliminated the Suns in five games and were set to take on LeBron James old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. It was the Cavaliers 3rd NBA Finals appearance and the Lakers 33rd appearance. The Los Angeles Lakers would be without All-Star power forward Anthony Davis who suffered a strained left hip before the start of game one. Donovan Mitchell, who had been injured and not played at all in the playoffs, returned to the lineup for game one. The Lakers were without Buddy Hield who sat out game three due to a bruised left bicep but returned in game four. After taking a 3-1 lead in the series the Lakers went back to Cleveland for game five and the Cavaliers were able to holdoff elimination by defeating the Lakers by 24 to take the series back to Los Angeles where the Lakers led by as many as 30 points and won the game by the final score of 123-102 to capture their 18th championship which once again puts them tied with the Boston Celtics who won their 18th championship last year. LeBron James showed out tonight, finishing the game with 37 points on 14-of-24 from the field along with seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks. Trae Young scored 26 points, hit 5-of-9 from the three-point line and dished out nine assists. Buddy Hield put up 21 points, knocking down 4-of-9 from the three-point line. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers with 36 points, knocking down 7-of-13 from the three-point line and 12-of-23 overall from the field and also had nine rebounds and five assists. Darius Garland who had been fantastic in these playoffs looked a little gassed out there on the court, finishing with just 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Jarrett Allen recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. For LeBron James, it's his fifth championship, putting him in the same group as Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson. James at age 40 became the oldest player to win the Bill Russell NBA FInals MVP award. James averaged 25.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 48.3% from the field, 93.9% from the free throw line and 25.0% from the three-point line.
|
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
 |
30 |
26 |
14 |
32 |
102 |
 |
41 |
29 |
28 |
25 |
123 |
Player Stats
Donovan Mitchell - 36 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
Darius Garland - 18 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 3 steal
Jarrett Allen - 12 points, 11 rebounds, 1 block
Caris LeVert - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
Player Stats
LeBron James - 37 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks
Trae Young - 26 points, 1 rebound, 9 assists, 1 steal
Buddy Hield - 21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
@ 
