PUSKAS: At last, we’ve a reason to party

Some football coaches like to say, “When you get to the end zone, act like you’ve been there before.”

But what if you’re a Cleveland sports fan of a certain age and — through no fault of your own — you actually haven’t been there before?

Not to worry, Cleveland fans. You’ve got some leeway on this one.

You’ve earned the celebration LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cavaliers enabled Sunday night in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

James scored 27 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had 11 assists in Cleveland’s 93-89 win over Golden State. James was the series MVP, but Irving made a tie-breaking 3-pointer over the Warriors’ Stephen Curry with 53 seconds left. James made a foul shot with 10.6 seconds left to effectively clinch the game and end Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought.

It was a long time coming for a city that endured so many bitter disappointments since Jim Brown, Paul Warfield and Frank Ryan helped the Browns win the 1964 NFL title with a 27-0 win over the Baltimore Colts.

But there had been nothing since, unless you count three indoor soccer titles and a minor-league hockey championship. No offense to the guys who won those titles and any soccer and hockey fans who celebrated, but Sunday night was finally a real reason to celebrate.

Ohio State’s football national championships under Jim Tressel and later Urban Meyer, while terrific accomplishments for the Buckeyes and their many fans in northeastern Ohio and elsewhere, couldn’t fill the void for Cleveland fans.

They needed something from the Browns, Cavaliers or Indians.

The Cavaliers delivered first. Browns and Indians, you’re on the clock.

Cleveland deserves to dance long into the night and maybe all this week, including the obligatory championship parade.

Yes, I just used the words “Cleveland” and “championship parade” in the same sentence.

I had long ago started to think I’d never get a chance to do that — legitimately — in my life.

And as Game 7 progressed Sunday night — with its ebbs and flows and electricity — it felt like an extended moment of deja vu. Hadn’t we been there before?

Red Right 88.

The Drive.

The Fumble.

The Shot.

Jose Mesa.

All those moments — and the ghosts of villains like Mike Davis, John Elway, Jeremiah Castille, Michael Jordan, Charles Johnson and that little Craig Counsell — are never far from the mind of Cleveland sports fan. They were there Sunday night, especially when ABC’s announcers reminded us about Cleveland’s Sports Misery Index every so often.

As much as we wanted to believe that we were all in with this team, we couldn’t help but think, “It’s Cleveland. The game will be close all the way and something will happen and we’ll get another Cleveland ending.”

For me, the vision was the Cavaliers leading by two with time running out and Curry launching an off-balance shot from 40 feet that dropped softly into the basket as the buzzer sounded. That would have the Cleveland-iest ending possible, right? Maybe with Kevin Love playing the role of Craig Ehlo to Curry’s Jordan.

I’ve always to be positive about things, but you know ... Cleveland.

It isn’t that all those kick-in-the-stomach moments mean the next one is destiny. But the weight of them — one on top of another on top of another on top of another — gives rise to the question, “What next?”

Other cities and have had that feeling. The Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox have had long championship droughts. The Cubs drought is still ongoing, but the Red Sox finally broke the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series in 2004. Then they won it again in 2007 and a third time in 2013.

But while the Red Sox couldn’t win a title, Boston and the rest of New England still had the Celtics, the Patriots and the Bruins. And Chicago had the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox.

Cleveland had nothing but desire and envy until tonight. And the usual sense of forboding that always seems to accompany its teams into the playoffs. The Browns? Well, the forboding feeling follows them everywhere. Just not to the playoffs. Not anymore, anyway.

The odds were against the Cavaliers completing this improbable comeback. No team had ever come back to win the NBA Finals after falling behind 3-1. History and common sense also favored the Warriors, who had won 73 regular-season games and were playing the last and most important game of the season on their floor. Road teams don’t generally win Game 7s in the NBA.

But LeBron James and the Cavaliers weren’t having any of that, even after being down 2-0 and 3-1 in the series. They combined to change sports history and maybe fix the fragile — if not fractured — psyche of northeastern Ohio fans.

For once, Game 7 went Cleveland’s way when it counted. The Warriors were the team unable to put together a solid possession or two in the waning moments and the game turned in what seemed like an instant. James made a tremendous block of what seemed a sure layup and Irving — who scored 26 points — came out of a timeout to bury the winning 3-pointer.

It was almost surreal, but there was a definite moment when I realized the Cavaliers were actually doing this and they weren’t going fade in the biggest moment of their lives.

The lesson from all this?

The Cleveland Curse, if it ever really existed, is over.

It didn’t take an act of God. It was as simple as having the best player in the NBA — sorry Steph — and an up-and-coming star. It was as simple as not giving up after a bad start to the series and the Warriors seemingly already planning their own parade in Oakland.

Truth be told, those Cleveland teams that couldn’t quite finish the job may have been a little unlucky, but you can also argue that most of them weren’t quite good enough to win titles.

Cleveland loved them anyway, from the 1980, 1986 and 1987 Browns to the Cavaliers of the late 1980s-early 1990s and the 1995 and 1997 Indians.

There is no shame in that those teams didn’t finish the job. But even so, finally Brian Sipe, Don Cockroft, Bernie Kosar, Earnest Byner, Albert Belle, Charles Nagy and even Jose Mesa are off the hook, anyway.

All those Cleveland sports figures and — others who came before and after them — and the fans who cheered them for them all these years have been vindicated.

James — notheastern Ohio’s prodigal basketball son — returned home to win a title for Cleveland. He put the Cavaliers on his back when he had to and kept his word. James was persona non grata here after The Decision, but that began to change in 2014 and it was completed Sunday night with The Redemption.

It wasn’t the Cleveland ending we’re used to seeing, but it’s one — if you’ll indulge me — we all deserved.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.