J.R. Smith grabbed the rebound on a George Hill missed free throw with 4.7 seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 107. Instead of putting a shot up or looking to pass the ball to a teammate, Smith dribbled the clock out.
There are no guarantees the Cavs would have won the game by scoring right there, but not getting up a shot guaranteed they wouldn’t. They didn’t have enough in the tank for overtime.
It appeared after the play that Smith told LeBron that he thought they were up. After the game Smith had a different story, claiming he knew the game was tied.
Smith may not want to admit it, but he thought the game was tied and cost his team Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Check out our Podcast Host Kevin Friedman talk about Game 1 of the NBA Finals
