National Basketball Association

Cleveland Cavaliers, Pittsburgh Penguins won titles changing coaches during season

Published Jun. 19, 2016 11:35 p.m. ET

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Barry Werner

In-season coaching changes don't usually bode well for teams. Switching coaches typically means not much is going right and you certainly don't expect one team to win a championship, let alone become titlists in two different sports.

This season, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Pittsburgh Penguins each defied that logic.

The Cavaliers were 30-11 and in first place in the Eastern Conference when David Blatt was fired -- amidst much controversy -- on Jan. 24.

Tyronn Lue was named to replace Blatt and led the Cavaliers to the NBA crown, as the team did something no team had done in league history, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.

"I am more than confident that he has the pulse of our team and that he can generate the buy-in required to start to refine the habits and culture that we've yet to build," GM David Griffin said after naming Lue coach.

Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, the Penguins fired Mike Johnston after a 15-€“10-€“3 start to the 2015-€“16 season.

Johnston was replaced by Mike Sullivan, who took over and coached the Pens to the Stanley Cup.

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