Cavs Got Lost in the Moment, Then Lost Game 1 in Overtime

Proving anything's possible, the Cleveland Cavaliers found a way to overshadow LeBron James's 51-point night.

Before what may well become JR Smith's epic space-out in the final seconds, the underlying theme in Game 1 of the NBA Finals was surely going to be the Cavs' dominance on the boards.

Dudes racked up an impressive 53-18 advantage, led by Kevin Love's 13 and Larry Nance Jr's 11.

If that becomes a trend, it could bode well for Cleveland. But ...

 

How in the name of Vince Lombardi does a highly experienced professional athlete at the elite level do what JR Smith did in the waning seconds of a tie game?

 

In the NBA Finals, no less:

 

Billed as the biggest finals mismatch since Agincourt, the Cavaliers did just enough to keep the Dubs outta synch virtually the entire game.

Among other things, they limited Golden State to shooting 13-36 from beyond the arc.

 

Props to James for keeping his teammates involved -- as he tries to do -- and picking up the slack on the usual plethora of possessions that he usually has to do.

But given the expressions and actions of Cavs players during the last seconds of regulation, it was clear dudes had checked out mentally. Bad things happen when one's thoughts linger on adversity instead of pressing forward.

 

Whatever could go wrong for Cleveland did go wrong for Cleveland, including:

• George Hill -- a career 80% from the stripe -- missing a free throw that woulda put the pressure on Golden State to make a winning shot,
• Dramond Green stepping into the lane and not getting called for it, and of course,
• JR Smith going walkies.

 

JR'd better be glad Sgt Joe Friday didn't weigh in on that testimony.

As to the King's transgression in the pivotal charge-or-block replay review, dude was moving. The refs were right.

 

Frankly, the last-moment step-in-and-draw-a-charge is an ambush call, has always been an ambush call, and will someday cause the collapse of Western cultural values. It has absolutely nothing to do with legitimate defending.

 

Well said.

 

Just one look at the Cavalier bench prior to the start of overtime, and it was clear dudes were seething instead of mentally refocusing.

That's no way to win a game, as they quickly proved.