This is hard to watch After seeing this video, it’s no surprise the Warriors started the overtime period of Game 1 on a 9–0 run. The whole Cavs team was just in stunned silence after J.R. Smith’s boneheaded mistake at the end of regulation. Pay special attention to LeBron’s reaction at the 1:35 mark when he asks Tyronn Lue if they have any timeouts remaining. You can see the weight of this entire season finally coming down on him. He has played more than 100 games this season and done everything in his power to bring a second championship to Cleveland. He was excruciatingly close to a signature moment in his storied career and a win that would have dramatically increased his team’s chances of pulling off one of the greatest upsets in NBA Finals history. But in that moment he must have realized, maybe my teammates are just too much to overcome. We’ll probably wrap this thing up by Friday Game 2 was what we expected most of the games in this series to look like. The Cavs kept it just close enough for most of the game that you could talk yourself into thinking they had a chance to come back while never really believing it would happen. And then the Warriors pulled away and cruised to an easy victory. I mean, what can you expect Cleveland to do when Stephen Curry is making shots like this? I thought NBA vet Jamal Crawford summed it up perfectly. The series now shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 on Wednesday. The long layoff will give LeBron a chance to recharge, so he could have another monster performance in front of his home crowd, but I don’t see these next two games playing out too differently than the first two. Game 4 is Friday and I think Steph could make a tee time this weekend to celebrate. Well this is embarrassing This isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for American automobiles. The start of the Detroit Grand Prix was delayed after the pace car, being driven by a General Motors executive, crashed into the wall. The airbags deployed but both passengers—GM Executive Vice President of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain Mark Reuss and IndyCar official Mark Sandy—were uninjured. Bits & Pieces I loved the hero’s welcome the Golden State crowd gave J.R. Smith before Game 2. ... This kid’s golf trick shots are utterly unbelievable. ... Draymond Green followed LeBron last night and wore a shorts suit to Game 2. A lot of people aren’t a fan of the look but Adam Rippon says it’s totally in right now. ... Wyoming hosted America’s first legal bareknuckle boxing event over the weekend and it was as bloody as you’d expect. Man, this really is getting repetitive Joakim Noah’s offseason is a real trip It’s been that kind of year Gahhhhhhhh!! ! Tough crowd Wait for it... Mind. Blown. A name as good as the play Older siblings can be the worst Does this look fun or terrifying? A good song Hot Clicks is everything you need to know in the world of sports and pop culture, ready for you to read right when you get to your desk in the morning. Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or ping me on Twitter. Click here for previous editions of Hot Clicks. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.<doc-sep>We know what happened on the court following Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith’s ridiculous end-of-regulation gaffe in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors, but how about in the team huddle? Thanks to BallisLife.com, we get to see Smith, who, seemingly unaware of the score, inexplicably dribbled the ball out to the top of the key after an offensive rebound in a tie game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, return to the bench and put his head down before receiving some encouragement from teammates. But what’s far more notable is the reaction of LeBron James. 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 James carried the team with an incredible 51-point performance. At the 1:35 mark of the video, James, seated a few chairs over from Smith, asks head coach Tyronn Lue if the team had any timeouts remaining. When he learns that they had one left, his expression turns incredulous. James first puts his head down and then sits arms crossed to the side while Lue addresses the team. Hesitantly, he puts his hand in the with the rest of the team before they head back out onto the court. Once overtime began, the clearly-deflated Cavs could not contain Golden State. The Warriors went on to win 124-114 to take a 1-0 series lead — a lead that grew to 2-0 on Sunday night. What preceded overtime was one of the best performances of James’ career. His team trailed 107-106 as the clock wound down in the final seconds of regulation. With the Warriors focused on James, he fired a bullet pass to point guard George Hill, who would have had a wide open layup had he not been fouled. Story continues The foul sent Hill to the free-throw line with 4.7 seconds remaining. He sank the first to tie the game at 107, but missed the second, setting up Smith’s inexplicable mistake. Smith corralled the offensive rebound over Kevin Durant. James was wide open at the top of the key, but Smith dribbled the ball out. By the time he realized the situation, it was too late. But beyond Smith’s lapse in judgment and, of course, Hill’s missed free throw, James clearly was perplexed in the huddle why Lue would not call a timeout to give the team a chance to win in regulation. A few days later, James called Game 1 one of the toughest losses of his career. James has put this undermanned team on his back throughout the entire season, and especially in these playoffs. Game 1 was a stark example of what he is up against in this Finals, both on his own bench and the Warriors. – – – – – – – Sam Cooper is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter! More from Yahoo Sports: • Serena aces inappropriate Trump question • Don’t underestimate KD’s difficult postseason journey in second season with Warriors • Why the Chiefs’ backup QB declined endorsement money • Cubs’ weird win over Mets still leaves reason to worry<doc-sep>Yes, Game 2 already happened, and it went just about as everyone expected after the Cavaliers blew their chance last week. It’s still worth going back to look to Game 1 and the exact moment this Finals series ended. Advertisement Ballislife.com posted raw footage of the moments immediately after J.R. Smith dribbled out the clock in a tie game. (He initially said he meant to do it; over the weekend he more or less owned up to not knowing the score.) It shows Smith’s brief “conversation” with LeBron James on the court—Smith appears to have said something along the lines of “I thought we were up”— and follows them to the bench, where they sit and sulk before the start of overtime. At about 2:15 of the video, James asks Ty Lue if the Cavs had any timeouts left. When Lue confirms that they did, the full weight of the lost opportunity seems to hit LeBron: Tag yourself; I’m both of them.<doc-sep>
Much has been made about J.R. Smith's inexplicable mistake at the end of regulation in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. It's a moment that will go down in infamy in the annals of NBA history, and understandably no one is quite ready to stop talking about it just yet. And thanks to some new uncut footage of the Cavs' bench in the moments after the gaffe, we have a new angle to look at it from. If you haven't been paying attention to the Finals, the Cavaliers had a great chance to steal Game 1. After an incredible LeBron James performance, George Hill was at the line with a chance to give them the lead with under five seconds to play. He made the first free throw to tie things up, but missed the second. But then Smith secured the rebound, and had a great chance to put it back up and potentially win the game for Cleveland. Instead, he dribbled the ball out and the game went to overtime, where the Warriors dominated to take a 1-0 series lead. After viewing the footage of the Cavs during the break before that extra period, it's not hard to see why the Warriors cruised in overtime. It's an absolutely heartbreaking few minutes, as the Cavs make their way to the bench, only to sit dumbfounded at what just happened. For a while, no one is speaking to each other, electing instead to just stare off into space. But the video really gets dramatic at about the 1:35 mark, when LeBron learns the Cavs had a timeout, but didn't call one. He really just can't handle it, burying his head in his hands before leaning back with his arms crossed in disbelief. It even takes some prodding from Kyle Korver to get LeBron to put his hand in to break the huddle. Jeff Green tries to give him some words of encouragement, but LeBron still seemed in shock. He couldn't even look in Smith's direction. If we had access to this footage before overtime started, everyone should have put boatloads of money on the Warriors to win in OT, because it's pretty clear from this clip that Smith's error broke LeBron and the team.