Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals was one for the books. An intense match up of the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavalier going back and forth in an over-time thriller. In the end, The Dubs came out on top with a 124-114 win, but Cleveland was there the whole way, especially in the fourth quarter.
With 2:35 left in the fourth, The Cavs were holding onto a 102-98 lead. LeBron James had scored 43 of his 51 and it looked like Cleveland was going to steal Game 1 from the heavily favored Warriors. But with 20 seconds left in the fourth, The dubs took a one point lead. And we all know what happened next. J.R Smith forgot the score of the game after grabbing an offensive rebound and dribbled it out rather than calling a timeout or looking to score. It's still unclear as to what Smith was really thinking, But what is clear is that Cleveland's loss could be easily attributed to Smiths costly mistake, or could it?
The play that has not been getting enough attention is the one that really would've sealed Clevelands win, George Hill's free throws. Hill was fouled while driving to the basket. With two shots waiting for him on the foul line, Hill had the perfect chance to win the game for The Cavs and be deemed a hero in Cleveland, but that didn't happen. After hitting the first, Hill came up short on the second, which to led J.R Smith's bone-head play that had social blowing up and basketball fans scratching their heads for the next 48 hours.
So logically, that whole blunder would've been avoided if George Hill made both free throws. The Cavs would've taken a 108-107 lead with 4.7 left. And it'd be safe to say that the odds would've been against Golden State. The Warriors' bench was almost no help all game and Kevin Durant had struggled from the field, going 8-22. Of course, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson still had respectively good performances, but who knows what would've happened with less than 5 seconds left.
So yes, J.R Smith could be blamed for Cleveland's loss, but the bigger picture is that George Hill could've put the game away with one more free throw. In all, the missed foul shot had a bigger affect that any last second blunder.
The series is just getting started and The Warriors are up 2-0. But if game one was of any preview for the rest of the Finals, then we are all in for a thrilling series.
