JR Smith’s Finals Goof is the Biggest in NBA History

Even if you tried to write the most chaotic script for the last minute of game one of the NBA Finals between the Cavs and Warriors on Thursday night, it would have been impossible to have come up with what actually transpired.  In what can only be described as one of the biggest blunders in NBA history, JR Smith, who's now infamous for one boneheaded play, secured a rebound off of a George Hill missed free throw with 4.7 seconds left in the game, and dribbled away from the hoop as if his team had a 1-point lead as opposed to it being tied at 107-107.

To begin with, the last minute of this game was quite simply pathetic.  It all started with 36.4 seconds left as a Kevin Durant charge on LeBron was reviewed and overturned, enabling KD to go to the strip and tie the game up.  Talk about getting rear ended in a horrible manner, without any concrete evidence, it is simply preposterous that the officials had the chutzpah to reverse their initial decision.  In retrospect, this seems like a minute detail considering what was about to occur; talk about foreshadowing though.

Should George Hill, who's an 81 percent free throw shooter have made his only two attempts of the game during the finals seconds?  The rhetorical question of the century at this point, but people miss key free throws all the time in pressure filled situations; it is what it is.  JR Smith should be ashamed of himself though for not knowing the actual score of the game and then claiming during a postgame interview that he knew the game was tied and thought his team was going to call a timeout.

Excuses are like tuchases, we all have one, never been a fan of them either.  Cavs coach Tyronn Lue told the media what everyone already knew following the game, which was that JR Smith thought his team had the lead, and LeBron was seen shouting at Smith at the end of regulation as if  to say, 'what the hell are you doing man?'  If you can read lips it was obvious that Smith said, 'I thought we were ahead.'  To add insult to injury, you don't allow a team like Golden State to go into overtime on their home court, they will most likely beat you every time.

If JR Smith were to have just said that he goofed, it would have been much better than flat out lying and saying he thought his squad was going to call a timeout.  Another thing that boggled my mind was when Smith grabbed the board from Hill's miss, and didn't attempt the layup despite being two feet from the hoop.  Yes, Durant was right there and had four blocks throughout the game, however, when you are that close to the hoop you try and score, or at the very least try and draw the foul.  This also proves that Smith had no idea that the game was actually tied at that point.

As the old expression goes, "would of, could of, should of', as the Cavs blew a golden opportunity to steal game one in a nearly impossible place to win.  Sure they can play with the Warriors, when you have the greatest player on the planet, anything is possible.  The problem is that despite scoring 51 points, which is the 6th best in Finals history, James can't do everything and unfortunately has to rely on his teammates for support at times, it just so happens that the ball ended up in the hands of the wrong player in the end; making it the biggest goof in NBA history.