J.R. Smith pulled off a Bill Buckner in Game 1. LeBron James, meanwhile, made his best Cam Newton impersonation in the postgame presser following Thursday’s 124-114 overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors.
James apparently got annoyed at a reporter who kept on asking him whether he knew if J.R. Smith was aware that the game was tied when the Cavs shooting guard committed the now infamous late-game blunder that took away Cleveland’s chance of ending the game in regulation. Ticked off, James stood up and walked out.
While James has already received some backlash over this alleged walkout, some perspective was offered by Robert Littal of Black Sports Online that eases off any unnecessary impressions over James’ act:
One thing should be noted, while LeBron did walk out of presser what won’t be reported is that it had already been established that was going to be last question. That’s why he left. He didn’t leave early. I know that’s not as salacious but it is the truth.
James was clearly not in the mood to talk about anything about the game in which he poured 51 points in a losing effort. James did everything for the Cavs to win, playing 48 minutes and shooting 19-for-32 from the field. James scored 13 points in the final frame to keep the Cavs afloat, but Smith’s error in judgment outweighed all of the four-time MVP’s exploits in the contest.
In addition to his scoring total, James also collected eight rebounds and dished out eight assists. He is now averaging 34.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 8.7 assists in the playoffs.
As painful as that loss is for the Cavs, they need to have a short memory and just put all their focus on Sunday’s Game 2 of the series.
Down 1-0 in the series, Cleveland will have to dig deep (and make better decisions) in order for them to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole.
