DELLAVEDOVA JOINS LIST OF AUSSIE NBA CHAMPIONS

DELLAVEDOVA JOINS LIST OF AUSSIE NBA CHAMPIONS

In one of the most exciting NBA Finals series of all time, Matthew Dellavedova and the Cleveland Cavaliers are NBA Champions after winning the series 4-3 against Andrew Bogut and the Golden State Warriors.

Photo: NBA Australia

The first team to ever come back from a 1-3 deficit in the NBA Finals, Cleveland clinched the title today on the Warriors home court against a side that had broken the regular season win record.

Dellavedova joins compatriots Bogut, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Andrew Gaze and Luc Longley as NBA Champions and the season marks the third consecutive year that an Australian has won a ring.

The injury in Game 5 to Bogut has proven to be a turning point in the series with the Warriors' lack of rim protection a key factor in the final three games of the series.

While Dellavedova was not as influential in the 2016 post-season as he was the previous year, he still made his mark with his pesky defence off the bench helping Cleveland maintain the tempo when Kyrie Irving came off the floor.

In the Eastern Conference first round, the Aussie averaged 18 minutes for 9.5 points and four assists as the Cavs swept Detroit.

That point production was slightly above his season average for 2015-16 while Dellavedova's assists remained consistent at four per game throughout the year.

His minutes then slowed down in the subsequent rounds but having completed his third NBA season with Cleveland, Dellavedova's numbers across the board have increased every year.

The basketball world's focus now turns to Rio with just over a month and a half until the Olympics begin.

The Boomers are headed to Melbourne for a camp starting on July 5 with the Farewell Series at Hisense Arena to be played on July 12 and July 14 when Australia will face an All-Stars team from the Pac-12 conference in the USA as warm-up games for the Rio Olympics.

Tickets for those two games can be purchased here.