The Cleveland Cavaliers could have won the opening game of the 2018 NBA Finals last night against the Golden State Warriors, but JR Smith of the Cavs did his best — or worst — to make sure that didn’t happen. And social media isn’t letting him off the hook.
The guard grabbed a rebound off of a missed Cleveland free throw with less than five seconds left in the game, tied 107-107, ample time to put up another shot and a chance to win. But Smith dribbled the ball away from the basket, thinking his team would call a time out. Once realizing he made a mistake, he passed the ball to teammate George Hill, who couldn’t get a shot off in time.
Golden State eventually defeated Cleveland 124-114 in overtime.
After the idiotic play, Twitter went nuts, and comments came in from hoops fans and pro ballers alike. Check some of the best tweets below.
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But the game did have its share of bright spots for the Cavaliers, a heavy underdog in the series. Cleveland was able to keep the game tight thanks to the 51 points on 19-of-32 shooting of LeBron James, who was wearing a white and gold iteration of the Nike LeBron 15.
Stephen Curry, in the Under Armour Curry 5 “UA Takeover Edition_2,” scored 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting for Golden State.
Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. ET at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif.
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