Cavaliers vs. Warriors: NBA Finals 2015 Breakdown and Quotes from Top Players

The 2015 NBA Finals showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors lived up to expectations, giving fans one of the most memorable championship series in recent years. 

Folks knew the drill going in—MVP on the league's best team versus the game's best player who also held a pretty good claim to the individual award, both before the series and in defeat.

LeBron James did what he could with little. Kevin Love didn't suit up for the series (well, he did, in a literal sense on the bench), and Kyrie Irving played just one game before aggravating a knee injury.

While an epic series over an extended period of time, the breakdown is rather simple—the Warriors, by far the deeper and better team, made slight adjustments and just outlasted the Cavaliers.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr put it best in a quote provided by Fox Sports' Sam Amico:

A somewhat rested Cavaliers team gave the Warriors all they could handle in Game 1, an eventual 108-100 overtime victory for the home team. Cleveland took the next two games, including a memorable 96-91 win in Cleveland as James went off for 40 points, and Matthew Dellavedova became a hero with a 20-point performance.

It was all downhill from there.

Dellavedova took a trip to the hospital for cramps and fatigue after, and the Cavaliers' depth well came up empty. James scored just 20 points in Game 4, Kerr put on the lie heard around the world, and Golden State wound up winning the next three.

"I was hoping our team could buy me a few minutes," James said of his trip to the bench at the start of the final frame in Game 4, per ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin. James needed the rest not just because he put the team on his back over the first three games but because Kerr fibbed to the media about his lineup, giving the eventual MVP Andre Iguodala his first start and running the battered Cavaliers ragged.

After his surprise start, the MVP scored 22, 14 and 25 points over the final three games and played a huge role in shutting down James. He spoke with the media after the triumph, per the NBA:

As a whole, the path the Warriors traveled might be more impressive than outlasting a Cavaliers team without two of its top three players. Stephen Curry and Co. overcame the New Orleans Pelicans and Anthony Davis, turned around and took care of the Memphis Grizzlies in six games and then needed just five games to best James Harden and the Houston Rockets.

For Curry, the face of the Warriors, it's never been about stats or individual awards, as he told the media after winning the title.

"It's all about winning. Stats really don't matter," Curry said, per Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel. "I mean, guys have great series and all that, and people take notice and take their place in history with those stats and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, it's all about winning and what you can do to help your team get to that point."

It's the right attitude from the right team, a team deep in its reserves and smart in their deployment, even if it takes an outright lie to go the distance.

Of course, a sense of "what if" will always rest over the result thanks to the injuries to Irving and Love. James himself put it best after the series, per CBS Sports NBA:

After the series, James made a point to elaborate on the uphill battle he and those left standing faced against the eventual champions.

"I've been watching basketball for a long time, I'm a historian of the game. I don't know any other team that's gotten to the Finals without two All‑Stars," James said, per USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. "I cannot remember thinking of it. I don't even know if it's ever happened, for a team to lose two All‑Stars and still be able to make it to the Finals."

When it comes to the Cavaliers moving forward, all talk will center on the future decisions of Love and James, as well as the dynamics of the relationship between James and coach David Blatt.

No matter what happens on most of those fronts, it seems safe to point out James will hit next season healthy and with a rejuvenated supporting cast around him for what should be another deep run into the postseason.

As for the defending champions, well, NBCSN captures the upcoming narrative around the Warriors with one short quote:

Now for the scary part, at least for the rest of the Association—the Warriors are young, under contract and guided by a coach who in his rookie debut took the team to the title series, made key adjustments and brought it back west.

While parades and celebrations will line the upcoming weeks, expect the main point of interest from Warriors players to center on one thing—an encore while the gang's still together.

All stats and info via ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.