OAKLAND, CALIF.— LeBron James and his relentless, never-count-them-out Cavaliers pulled off an improbable NBA final comeback, and Cleveland is title town again at long last.

James delivered on a promise from two years ago to bring a championship to his native northeast Ohio, and he and the Cavs became the first team to rally from a 3-1 finals deficit by beating the defending champion Golden State Warriors 93-89 on Sunday night to end a 52-year major sports championship drought in Cleveland.

James almost single-handedly carried the Cavs back into this series and finished with 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as the Cavs captured their first championship in franchise history and gave their city its first major sports winner since the Browns won the NFL title in 1964.

“Cleveland! This is for you!” James bellowed in his post-game interview before being announced as the NBA final MVP.

An emotional James fell to the floor when this one ended with a second win in six days on Golden State’s imposing home floor, surrounded by his teammates. Only seconds earlier, he went down in pain with 10.6 seconds left after being fouled by Draymond Green while going for a dunk, then came back out to make the second of two free throws.

“We made history tonight,” Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said. “Cleveland, Ohio, we’re coming back, baby!”

Kyrie Irving scored 26 points to cap his brilliant finals, including a three-pointer over MVP Stephen Curry with 53 seconds left.

In Cleveland, as the final seconds ticked off on the giant scoreboard inside Quicken Loans Arena, 18,000 fans, some of them strangers when Sunday night began, cried, hugged, screamed and shared a moment many of them have spent a lifetime dreaming of.

Back in Oakland, Curry sat briefly on the bench to take in the scene after the Warriors made their last basket with 4:39 left.

Green had 32 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, but the Warriors’ record-setting season ended without the only prize this close-knit “Strength In Numbers” crew cared about from way back in the beginning — through the record 24-0 start as coach of the year Steve Kerr was out, Curry’s second consecutive MVP campaign, and the 73 regular-season wins to break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ mark.

Curry tried to shake Kevin Love with a dribble in the final minute and let loose with one of those long three-pointers he seemed to make at every big moment this season. But instead of a game-tying splash, the ball rimmed out. Curry and fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson were off all night, combining to 6-for-24 from three-point range.

After blowing two earlier chances to clinch the title, the Warriors were in position for the win in the closing minutes of a tense Game 7 that had the boisterous crowd at Oracle Arena alternating between delirious cheers and nervous energy.

But the Warriors did not score after Thompson tied the game with a driving layup with 4:39 to play. Golden State missed its final nine shots with James coming out of nowhere to block what seemed like an uncontested go-ahead layup by Andre Iguodala with less than two minutes left and Curry missing his final four three-point attempts.

Curry sat on the bench for a few minutes as the stage was assembled for Cleveland’s trophy celebration before he went into the mass of victorious Cavs and their followers to congratulate James and his teammates.

Then Curry took his second long, dejected walk back to the locker room, a game after his frustration led to a fourth-quarter ejection in Cleveland. That was a disappointing ending to a season that featured a record 402 three-pointers and the first unanimous NBA MVP for Curry.

By falling short of the title, the Warriors will now be part of a debate they hoped to avoid: the best teams that failed to win a championship.

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Golden State joins the 18-0 New England Patriots that lost the Super Bowl in 2008, the 116-win Seattle Mariners that fell in the 2001 AL championship series and the 68-win Boston Celtics that lost in the Eastern Conference final in 1973 as great regular season teams that couldn’t get it done in the post-season.

After winning a record 24 straight games to start the season and pushing hard to break Chicago's record of 72 wins set in 1995-96 on the final day of the regular season, few things came easy for Golden State in the playoffs.

Curry sprained his ankle in Game 1 of the opening round against Houston and missed he next two games. He then sprained his right knee in his first game back in Houston when he slipped on a wet spot on the floor.

The Warriors still managed to beat the overmatched Rockets in five games. Curry returned in Game 4 of the second round and promptly set an NBA record with 17 points in the overtime to lead Golden State to a win that turned the tide of that series.

Golden State then rallied from 3-1 down to beat Oklahoma City in the Western Conference final before blowing the same lead to Cleveland a round later.

Fans cheer for Cavaliers, LeBron James

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