King James Leads Cavaliers to First NBA Finals

As his teammates danced and carried on while
wearing baseball caps and T-shirts proclaiming "Champions,"
LeBron James walked around in a daze with a smile etched across his
face. "This is like a dream," he said, shaking his head. "This
is probably the best feeling that I've ever had in my life." An
entire city felt the same.
For the first time in a long time, championship-starved
Cleveland has something to feel good about.

The Cavaliers , once the punch line to jokes and Michael Jordan 's
favorite foil, are Eastern Conference champions - and on their way
to the NBA finals.

Lugging an entire region's hopes with him on every trip to the
basket, James had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and unflappable rookie
Daniel Gibson added 31 points - 19 in the fourth quarter - to give
the Cavaliers a 98-82 victory in Game 6 against the Detroit
Pistons .

Cleveland, a city that hasn't celebrated a world championship
since the Browns won an NFL title in 1964, has the next closest
thing. And now the Cavs, who won only 17 games the year before
James arrived from just down the Interstate in Akron, will meet the
San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the finals on Thursday night.

James, who scored 48 points in Cleveland's double-overtime win
in Game 5, didn't have to carry the Cavs by himself.

Gibson gave him all the help he needed.

The slender second-round pick from Texas, who didn't become a
major contributor until March, outshined his superstar teammate.
Gibson made three 3-pointers in the first 2:16 of the fourth and
drilled another long-range jumper with 6:52 left, setting off a
massive celebration in Quicken Loans Arena.

"If I'm dreaming, please don't wake me up," Gibson said.
"This was perfect, to win it for Cleveland."

The Cavaliers are only third team to come back from an 0-2
deficit in a conference finals, joining the 1971 Baltimore Bullets
and 1993 Chicago Bulls .

The season couldn't have ended worse for the top-seeded Pistons,
making their fifth straight appearance in the conference finals.