LeBron James stars as Cleveland collect maiden NBA title

LeBron James and Kevin Love celebrate as Cleveland Cavaliers secure NBA title in San Francisco

LeBron James played a starring role as the Cleveland Cavaliers became NBA champions for the first time, with a series-deciding victory over Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

James potted 27 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in Cleveland's 93-89 triumph in game seven of the NBA finals series which the Cavaliers clinched 4-3.

The NBA's newest champions became the first team to rally from a 1-3 series deficit, by completing a famous win over the top-seeded Warriors at their home venue in Oakland, California.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers beat Golden State Warriors to win the city's first sports title since 1964

And the result ends decades of heartbreak for the city of Cleveland, which had not won a major American championship since the Browns secured the National Football League title in 1964.

The victory also earned the Cavaliers revenge over the Warriors who had beaten them 4-2 to win last year's finals series.

Cavaliers superstar James said: "I'm coming home with what I said I was going to do. I can't wait to get off that plane, hold that trophy up and see all our fans at the terminal."

Action from game seven in Oakland

The eventual winners recovered from a seven-point deficit at the halfway stage but levelled matters 54-54 early in the third quarter.

The match continued to sway one way, and then the other, and was locked at 89-89 with three minutes, 40 seconds left - the lead having changed hands 20 times.

The score remained the same with 1:09 remaining as Andre Iguodala and James blocked each other's shot attempts.

Clevelands Cavaliers celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after defeating Golden State Warriors in the deciding seventh game

Kyrie Irving's tremendous three-point jumper finally broke the tie and, after Stephen Curry missed, James took a heavy fall when fouled by Draymond Green and made one of the two free throws to clinch a four-point winning margin.

Curry had been named the league's most valuable player, after his team had finished the regular season with a brilliant 73-9 record.

Cavaliers' fans celebrate in the streets of Cleveland following their team's momentous victory in the NBA finals

For the Warriors, who had a record number of wins during the 82-game regular season, Sunday's defeat marked the first time since November 2013 that they had lost three games in a row.

MVP Curry admitted: "It hurts. It wasn't easy what we accomplished and it's not an easy pill to swallow what we didn't accomplish."