The Cleveland Cavaliers had the chance to steal the opening game of the NBA Finals on the road, but it all went pear-shaped in bizarre circumstances.
George Hill stood at the line shooting two free throws with the Cavaliers down 107-105 with only 4.7 seconds remaining. After making the first, Hill missed the second but the rebound was collected by J.R Smith.
What happened next left fans and Cavaliers teammates stunned.
After collecting the rebound, J.R ran the ball out to beyond the 3-point line where a screaming LeBron James was waiting and telling him to shoot.
“I thought we were ahead.” - JR Smith pic.twitter.com/OjCt4VMCEj
— J.R.ob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) June 1, 2018
In a last-ditch effort amongst the confusion, J.R fed the ball back to Hill who attempted a three-point heave only to have the shot swatted by Draymond Green.
J.R thought the Cavaliers had the lead hence his attempts to evade the Warriors defenders, but the brain fade came back to bite him.
As the game went into overtime the Warriors flexed their muscles and ran away with the contest.
The major mistake could play major mind games with the Cavaliers and could end up being a pivotal moment from the NBA Finals.