Despite J.R. Smith’s best efforts, the Cleveland Cavaliers managed to escape Oakland with a 95-93 Game 2 win Sunday night, and sent the NBA Finals back to Ohio deadlocked at one game apiece.
Smith, playing as though he were wearing his old New York Knicks jersey, committed some unfathomably ill-timed fouls in the fourth quarter.
JR Smith: "I was pissed. Most of it, I look at it as my fault. I had a lot of dumb fouls, turnovers, put ourselves in a situation to lose."
— Rod Boone (@rodboone) June 8, 2015
Smith, who has shot an atrocious 31 percent from the field so far in the series, knows just how lucky he was that his blunders didn’t cost the Cavs such a badly-needed victory.
Per the NY Post:
Ex-Knick J.R. Smith was on the bench, having fouled out with 29.2 seconds left in overtime Sunday night, and watched with glee as the Cavaliers held on for a 95-93 victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. […] Part of his happiness was avoiding being tagged the goat for his series of ill-advised fouls late in the game.
“Mostly I looked at it as my fault,” Smith said. “I had a lot of dumb fouls and turnovers. I put ourselves in a situation for us to lose that game. I lost my focus, but fortunately I have great teammates.”
As he sat on the bench watching the dramatic final seconds unfold with Matthew Dellavedova winning it with two late free throws, Smith crossed his fingers. […] “I was thinking, ‘Please win this game,'” Smith said. “I don’t want the phone calls, the text messages, the Instagrams and tweets. I don’t need that.”
