OAKLAND — Winning time arrived and the Cleveland Cavaliers had the naysayers, the Splash Brothers and the raucous crowd inside Oracle Arena right where they wanted them.
The basketball was in the hands of LeBron James, and if anyone could rain on the Golden State Warriors — and attached parade — in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, it had to be the greatest player on the planet.
As the final seconds of regulation time ticked with the game tied, they cleared out for James, who created a crack of daylight away from the pesky defender in his midst, Andre Iguodala, and launched a 21-foot jumper.