Watch: LeBron dejected after realizing Cavs had unused timeout late in Game 1
This is heartbreaking! Long uncut footage of LeBron, JR Smith & George Hill after Smith's mistake in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/MplQoAkk0a
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 4, 2018
It was easy to point at J.R. Smith's blunder as the reason the Cleveland Cavaliers lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals, despite a heroic 51-point effort from LeBron James against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
However, blame can also be placed on the coaching staff, who failed to utilize its remaining timeout when Smith awkwardly ran out the clock after nabbing an offensive rebound off George Hill's missed free throw with 4.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
At the 1:36 mark of the video, James asks head coach Ty Lue if the Cavs had a timeout after the debacle had occurred. When Lue confirms they did, James looked absolutely distraught, realizing the Cavaliers may have failed to steal an important game on the road.
The Warriors went on to win 124-114.
After Sunday's blowout victory, Golden State now leads the series 2-0 as the series heads to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday.