2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers season

The 2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers season was the 45th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season was marked by the publicity the team received by signing free agent forward LeBron James and trading for forward Kevin Love. These All-Star players, added with All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, were dubbed nationally as the "Big Three".^[1] With these acquisitions, this formed a new superteam of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love in the East.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

A sub-.500 team the previous four seasons, the Cavaliers won the Central division with a 53–29 record. After a slow 19–20 start, including a stretch of 2–10 in 12 games, a number of trades turned the season around, and they finished 34–9 the rest of the way. Despite losing key players to injuries, their run continued deep in the NBA Playoffs, starting with a sweep of the Boston Celtics in four games in the First Round, then defeating the Chicago Bulls in six games in the Semi-finals, before sweeping the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in four games in the Conference Finals, making it to the NBA Finals, their second appearance since 2007. However, the Cavaliers' season ended with a 2–4 series loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, who won their fourth NBA championship, their first NBA Championship in 40 years.

Offseason[]

In July 2014, LeBron James signed with the Cavaliers and Kevin Love was acquired through a 3-team trade in August. With these acquisitions, this formed a new superteam of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love in the East.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

Draft picks[]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Club team
1	1	Andrew Wiggins	SG/SF	Canada	Kansas
2	33	Joe Harris	SG	United States	Virginia

Roster[]

2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From G 8 Dellavedova, Matthew 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 1990-09-08 Saint Mary's G 12 Harris, Joe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1991-09-06 Virginia C 33 Haywood, Brendan 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 263 lb (119 kg) 1979-11-27 North Carolina G 2 Irving, Kyrie (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 193 lb (88 kg) 1992-03-23 Duke F 23 James, LeBron (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1984-12-30 St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (OH) F 1 Jones, James 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 1980-10-04 Miami (FL) F 0 Love, Kevin (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 243 lb (110 kg) 1988-09-07 UCLA F 31 Marion, Shawn 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 228 lb (103 kg) 1978-05-07 UNLV F 18 Miller, Mike 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 1980-02-19 Florida C 20 Mozgov, Timofey 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1986-07-16 Russia C 3 Perkins, Kendrick 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 270 lb (122 kg) 1984-11-10 Clifton J. Ozen (TX) G 4 Shumpert, Iman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1990-06-26 Georgia Tech G 5 Smith, J. R. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) 1985-09-09 St. Benedict's Prep (NJ) F/C 13 Thompson, Tristan 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 238 lb (108 kg) 1991-03-13 Texas C 17 Varejão, Anderson  6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 273 lb (124 kg) 1982-09-28 Brazil

Head coach David Blatt Assistant coach(es) Jim Boylan Bret Brielmaier Larry Drew Phil Handy (player development) Tyronn Lue (associate HC) James Posey Vitaly Potapenko (player development) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster Last transaction: April 20, 2015

Roster Notes[]

Center Anderson Varejão played 26 games (his last game being on December 23, 2014) but missed the majority of the season and the playoffs due to tearing his left Achilles tendon. He underwent successful surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on December 26, 2014.^[12][13]

Preseason[]

Regular season[]

Standings[]

Game log[]

Detailed records

Playoffs[]

Player statistics[]

Summer League[]

Preseason[]

Regular season[]

Records[]

• On March 12, Kyrie Irving set a Cavaliers franchise record with 57 points in an overtime victory against the San Antonio Spurs. It was also the first time in Gregg Popovich's coaching career that an opposing player has scored 50 points against his team.
• On May 24, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to put up 37+ points, 18+ rebounds, and 13+ assists in a playoff game. He achieved the feat in an overtime win against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
• On May 26, LeBron James and James Jones became the first players to reach five consecutive NBA Finals since several Boston Celtics accomplished the feat in 1966. James and Jones are the first to do so with two teams (also with the Miami Heat).

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers season.

• 2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers preseason at ESPN
• 2014–15 Cleveland Cavaliers regular season at ESPN