At the end of Game 1 of the NBA Finals J.R. Smith made one of the worst mistakes in Finals history. After getting a rebound on a missed free throw, instead of taking a shot with the game tied, Smith dribbled the ball out, and the game went to overtime.
The Cleveland Cavaliers lost all the momentum going into overtime, and the Golden State Warriors had no issue dominating the period and winning the game.
But what would have happened if Smith would have realized the game was tied and made a pass to James for a game-winning shot.
An NBA Reddit user created a video of James hitting the shot, and the Cavs players going crazy because their team just took a 1-0 series lead.
That video is probably what James dreamed about after Game 1, but the bad news for the Cavs, it was all just a dream.
Immediately after the game, Smith told reporters that he was going to bring out the ball to take the final shot but he knew the score was tied. He also said he thought the team was going to call a timeout.
Smith then changed his story after practice, saying he really didn’t know what he was thinking during that moment, and he might have said he thought they were winning. James isn’t concerned about Smith bouncing back and knows he will be ready for Game 2.
“J.R.’s one of the most resilient guys I’ve ever been around,” James said via The New York Post. “He took that loss as hard as anybody the other night, just [as hard] as anybody on the team. But one thing about J.R., he has an uncanny ability to bounce back and I think people have seen that throughout our postseason runs.”