The San Antonio Spurs are the National Basketball Association champions, sweeping the Cleveland Cavilers in four straight games in the best-of-seven title series. VOA's Jim Stevenson has more on San Antonio's clinching victory in Cleveland.
The Spurs won their fourth NBA title in the last nine seasons with a 83-82 victory over the Cavaliers Thursday in Game Four of the championship series.
Manu Ginobili of Argentina came off the San Antonio bench to contribute a game high 27 points along with seven rebounds. French teammate Tony Parker scored 24 points and was named the finals most valuable player.
San Antonio star Tim Duncan had 12 points and says his team learned from the entire season.
"We have come so far with this group of guys. We went through ups and downs. And it is about learning from those things," he said. "We have become a better team because of those things. And it is just a relief to get it done [win the title]."
LeBron James led Cleveland with 24 points. The Cavaliers were playing in the NBA Finals for the first time in the franchise's history. But their loss adds to the long history of Cleveland teams in various sports that have fallen short of a championship. The last time the city celebrated a championship was 43 years ago when the Browns topped the National Football League.
By contrast, San Antonio now has the most successful franchise in any sport for the past decade.
