Oakland vs. Cleveland in the Postseason

It seems like it's been a while since we've seen an NBA game, but the Warriors and Cavaliers will finally begin the NBA Finals tonight. Cleveland heads into the championship series with eight days of rest and Golden State has seven days. The reason for the long break is that both teams made quick work of their Conference Finals opponents. Since moving to a best-of-seven in 1958, it is only the fourth time in NBA history that both Division/Conference Finals were wrapped up in four or five games. 

NBA	East Finals	Gm	West Finals	Gm	NBA Finals	Gm
1970	Knicks d. Bucks	5	Lakers d. Hawks	4	Knicks d. Lakers	7
1974	Celtics d. Knicks	5	Bucks d. Bulls	4	Celtics d. Bucks	7
1986	Celtics d. Bucks	4	Rockets d. Lakers	5	Celtics d. Rockets	6
2015	Cavaliers d. Hawks	4	Warriors d. Rockets	5	???

As for the other sports, it's more common in the NHL and last year was the first time in MLB since the LCS became best-of-seven.

NHL	Semifinal/East Final	Gm	Semifinal/West Final	Gm	Stanley Cup Final	Gm
1946	Bruins d. Red Wings	5	Canadiens d. Black Hawks	4	Canadiens d. Bruins	5
1954	Canadiens d. Bruins	4	Red Wings d. Maple Leafs	5	Red Wings d. Canadiens	7
1955	Canadiens d. Bruins	5	Red Wings d. Maple Leafs	4	Red Wings d. Canadiens	7
1972	Rangers d. Black Hawks	4	Bruins d. Blues	4	Bruins d. Rangers	6
1978	Bruins d. Flyers	5	Canadiens d. Maple Leafs	4	Canadiens d. Bruins	6
1982	Islanders d. Nordiques	4	Canucks d. Black Hawks	5	Islanders d. Canucks	4
1992	Penguins d. Bruins	4	Blackhawks d. Oilers	4	Penguins d. Blackhawks	4
2009	Penguins d. Hurricanes	4	Red Wings d. Blackhawks	5	Penguins d. Red Wings	7
2010	Flyers d. Canadiens	5	Blackhawks d. Sharks	4	Blackhawks d. Flyers	6
2013	Bruins d. Penguins	4	Blackhawks d. Kings	5	Blackhawks d. Bruins	6
MLB	ALCS	Gm	NLCS	Gm	World Series	Gm
2014	Royals d. Orioles	4	Giants d. Cardinals	5	Giants d. Royals	7

Golden State ran up the league's best record at 67-15, while Cleveland was second in the East with a 53-29 mark. The 14-game gap between the two is tied for the seventh-largest between Finals participants. When the teams are separated by double digits, the team with the better record is 16-2, but the two upsets were both sweeps.

Year	Team	Wins	Team	Wins	Margin	Result
1967	76ers	68	Warriors	44	24	76ers 4-2
1971	Bucks	66	Bullets	42	24	Bucks 4-0
1981	Celtics	62	Rockets	40	22	Celtics 4-2
1972	Lakers	69	Knicks	48	21	Lakers 4-1
1959	Celtics	52	Lakers	33	19	Celtics 4-0
1986	Celtics	67	Rockets	51	16	Celtics 4-2
1970	Knicks	60	Lakers	46	14	Knicks 4-3
2015	Warriors	67	Cavaliers	53	14	???
1960	Celtics	59	Hawks	46	13	Celtics 4-3
1965	Celtics	62	Lakers	49	13	Celtics 4-1
1975	Bullets	60	Warriors	48	12	Warriors 4-0
1976	Celtics	54	Suns	42	12	Celtics 4-2
1964	Celtics	59	Warriors	48	11	Celtics 4-1
2000	Lakers	67	Pacers	56	11	Lakers 4-2
2003	Spurs	60	Nets	49	11	Spurs 4-2
1957	Celtics	44	Hawks	34	10	Celtics 4-3
1992	Bulls	67	Trail Blazers	57	10	Bulls 4-2
1995	Magic	57	Rockets	47	10	Rockets 4-0
1999**	Spurs	37	Knicks	27	10	Spurs 4-1

** The 1999 season was shortened to 50 games by a lockout. By winning percentage, the Spurs were 200 points ahead of the Knicks, good for a 16.4-win margin over an 82-game season.


This will be the second time in the four major professional sports that teams from Oakland and Cleveland have met in the postseason. The first matchup featured the league MVP, an eventual wild-card Super Bowl champion and of course, Cleveland heartbreak.

1980 Divisional

The Cleveland Browns hadn't made the playoffs since 1972, but MVP quarterback Brian Sipe threw for 30 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards in 1980, leading the Kardiac Kids to an 11-5 record and the AFC Central title. The team earned their Kardiac Kids nickname, with 12 of their 16 games decided by seven or fewer points (they went 9-3).

The Raiders also went 11-5, but lost the tiebreaker to the Chargers and had to play Houston in the Wild Card round. They cruised to a 27-7 victory to earn a trip to Cleveland for the Divisional round. Played in sub-zero wind chill, the game was scoreless into the second quarter. It stayed that way after Don Cockroft missed a 47-yard field goal try.



Cleveland would get on the board first though, with Ron Bolton intercepting Jim Plunkett's pass and taking it 42 yards to the house for a 6-0 lead. However, the kicking troubles continued with Cockcroft missing the extra point.



Oakland answered right before halftime, scoring the go-ahead touchdown and extra point thanks to Mark van Eeghen's 1-yard scoring plunge in the final minute of the half.



The Browns took the lead in the third quarter with a pair of field goals and it could have been more, but another field goal attempt was never made due to a botched snap. Down 12-7 heading into the fourth, Oakland came back in the final period, taking the lead with an 80-yard touchdown drive. The key play was this 27-yard pass from Plunkett to Raymond Chester to set the Raiders up at the 16.



Van Eeghen converted his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game, making it 14-12 with 9:22 left.



The Raiders popped the ball away from Sipe in Cleveland territory with just over four minutes remaining and seemed poised to put the game away.



They had the ball at the 15,  but the Browns stuffed van Eeghen on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-inches to get the ball back with two and a half minutes to play.



Sipe hit Ozzie Newsome for 29 yards (25:30 of the video below), and Greg Pruitt for 23 (29:41). Pruitt ran for 14 more and soon the Browns were at the 13-yard line with 49 seconds left (31:30).



During a timeout, head coach Sam Rutigliano called a pass play, Red Right 88. But he told Sipe that if no one was open, "throw it into Lake Erie." Sipe looked for Newsome in the end zone, but Mike Davis intercepted it to win the game for the Raiders.



This was the first of a long string of gut-wrenching postseason losses for a city that hasn't won a sports championship since 1964. It would be followed by John Elway's Drive, Earnest Byner's Fumble, Michael Jordan's Shot, Art Modell's Move to Baltimore, Jose Mesa's blown save and LeBron James taking his talents to South Beach (but at least he came back!).

The Raiders scored another road upset against the Chargers to reach Super Bowl XV. They beat the Eagles 27-10 to become the first wild card championship team in NFL history.



San Francisco vs. Cleveland in the Postseason

For the purposes of these city playoff history pieces, I consider the Warriors and Sharks as both Oakland and San Francisco teams. Looking at the other side of the bay, the Finals will also be the second Cleveland-San Francisco playoff meeting.

The Browns and 49ers began their long franchise histories not in the NFL, but in the All-America Football Conference, which operated from 1946 to 1949. The Niners went 38-14-2 in four seasons, but finished second to the Browns each year, with Cleveland winning all four championships with a 47-4-3 record. Coach Paul Brown's dynasty was fueled by stars like QB Otto Graham, RB Marion Motley, WR Mac Speedie and K/LT Lou Groza.

The last of these titles was won in the 1949 Championship. In the only season under a four-team playoff format, the Browns and 49ers won their divisional round games to set up a showdown for the league's last title.

It was a "slippery" field and the only scoring of the first half was a 2-yard Edgar Jones touchdown run that made it 7-0 Cleveland. The big play of the day was Motley's 68-yard score that opened up a 14-0 lead. The Niners answered with a fourth-quarter touchdown, but the Browns put it away on the next drive, capping a 21-7 victory with a Dub Jones 4-yard run. Cleveland's defense bottled up the league's rushing leader Joe Perry (36 yards) and TD-pass leader Frankie Albert (108 yards).

That would be the last game in AAFC history, as the 49ers, Browns and Colts joined the NFL in a league merger. The Baltimore Colts folded after one season but reemerged two years later.

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