JR Smith has shouldered the majority of the blame for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game one loss in the NBA Finals after he ran out the clock with the game tied at the end of regulation; however, his mistake easily could’ve been reversed had the rest of his squad had a bit more situational awareness. Smith had the ball for 4.7 seconds after grabbing the board off a missed George Hill free throw, which left more than enough time for Cavaliers coach Tryonn Lue or any of the players to take their last remaining timeout to draw up a play.
Sitting on the bench preceding overtime, LeBron James asked Lue if they had any timeouts remaining, and his reaction says it all. Skip to the 10-second mark in the video below to see James’ reaction to Lue’s answer:
https://twitter.com/redapples/status/1003622879185866752
