JR Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers dribbles in the closing seconds of regulation as LeBron James attempts direct the offense against the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on May 31, 2018 in Oakland, California. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images/AFP
Cleveland’s JR Smith committed a major faux pas at the of regulation in Game 1 of the NBA Finals by failing to attempt a potential game-winning shot.
With the game leveled at 107-107 with 4.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, George Hill missed his second freethrow and J.R. Smith grabbed the rebound.
But instead of trying for a winning layup, Smith moved away from Kevin Durant at the hoop and the game went into overtime.
“We got lucky,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “He could have taken a shot, but he dribbled out. I guess he thought they were ahead. We got lucky.”
Cavs coach Tyronne Lue said Smith thought the Cavs were ahead, but Smith said he thought the game was tied and was trying for a final shot.
“Kevin was standing right there. I tried to bring it out and get enough space to maybe get a shot off,” Smith said.
“I thought we were going to take a timeout because I got the rebound. I’m pretty sure everybody didn’t think I was going to shoot it over KD.
“If I thought we were ahead, I would have just held on to the ball and let them foul me.”
Durant, who had three blocks, said, “If he had tried to put a layup up, I had a good chance to contest it.”