J.R. Smith Accused Of Being ‘High Or Drunk’ For Not Realizing NBA Finals Game Was Tied

J.R. Smith made one of the most epic blunders in NBA history by trying to run out the clock, even though his Cleveland Cavaliers team were tied with the Golden State Warriors and ended up sending the game into OT.

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June 1, 2018 12:17AM EDT
J.R. Smith
Image Credit: REX/Shutterstock

J.R. Smith has done made some seriously stupid plays in his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he literally cost them a chance at winning game one of their NBA finals against the Golden State Warriors. With the game tied 107-107, teammate George Hill missed a clutch free throw and JR got the rebound. Instead of trying to immediately score or call for a time out with the three seconds left, he inexplicably ran down court towards Golden State’s side. Apparently he was attempting to run out the clock and failed to realize that his team was NOT ahead! He got halfway down court before turning back and throwing it deep to Hill, who was badly out of position and missed the bucket.

This sent the game into overtime where the Warriors picked up massive steam and went on to win 122-114. J.R.’s blunder literally cost Cleveland the game. It would have been epic for the Cavs to pick up a road win and a victory in the first game of the series. Instead, J.R.’s mistake caused Cleveland players to get so emotional and temperamental by the end of overtime that Tristan Thompson tried to punch Draymond Green and LeBron James shoved Steph Curry after the two exchanged trash talk with two seconds left in the game. Bron was so furious that his team got trounced in the end after he put up 51 — yes 51 — massive points for Cleveland. They could have won if J.R. took the rebound and went in for the easy score instead of running towards the other side of the court with the ball. Fan accused him of being high or drunk to have made such a blunder.

Check out this epic fail:

Then came the memes

Dear #JavaleMcGee, JR Smith just let you off the hook for most brain dead play of the night. That was 100% awful basketball IQ,” one Twitter user wrote, while another pointed out “LeBron James really was a moment away from singlehandedly defeating 4 all-stars only to be foiled by JR Smith,” referring to Bron’s 50 plus points against a team stacked with so much talent. Many wrote things along the lines of “When LeBron James finds JR Smith after the Cavs and the Warriors game” with memes of guys getting the crap kicked out of them. Another fan posted a shot of J.R. looking stoned and wrote “JR Smith needs to be drug tested.”