Israeli media has been avidly following the fortunes of rookie NBA coach David Blatt, who left an indelible mark on Israeli basketball with his Euroleague championships at Maccabi Tel Aviv, but on Tuesday night he was unable to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA Championship in his first year in the league.
Instead the Golden State Warriors got the upper hand on the undermanned Cavs, defeating them in a Game 6 that went down to the wire and ended at 105-97.
This marks the first NBA Championship for the Warriors since way back in 1975. None of the team's current squad had ever been in the NBA Finals before.
The Warriors were also led by a coach in his first year, as Steve Kerr became the first rookie coach to win the title since back in 1982 when Pat Riley took it with the Lakers.
Cavs' star LeBron James finished the series with yet another stellar performance, netting 32 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists - one more assist and he would have achieved a record third triple-double in the Finals.
But the depth of the Warriors once again proved to be too much, as the team was led by season MVP Stephen Curry who scored 25 points and dished eight assists.
The Cavs have nothing to be ashamed of, however, as their willpower was clearly shown playing with just seven to eight players after two of their leading players were sidelined with injuries.
All-Star guard Kyrie Irving suffered a broken kneecap in Game 1, and Kevin Love injured his shoulder in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.