The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 122-114 Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night had a lot to do with a spectacular miscue from the Cavs’ J.R. Smith. With the score tied in the final seconds of regulation, Smith grabbed an offensive rebound off a George Hill free-throw miss, but then, instead of going for a shot, setting someone else up or even calling timeout to draw up a play, Smith dribbled back towards the halfway line, then threw a last-second pass to Hill, too late to get up a shot. Cleveland then got blown out in overtime, and Twitter blew up with memes based on the spectacular shot of LeBron James yelling at Smith after the final fourth-quarter buzzer. Here are some of the best:
"This meeting could have been done in one email!" pic.twitter.com/GhkZufTaTT
— Jay Rigdon (@jayrigdon5) June 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/LSUcaligrl/status/1002404243259588611
YOU. ARE. A. TOY!
YOU AREN'T THE REAL BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, YOU'RE AN ACTION FIGURE. YOU ARE A CHILD'S PLAYTHING! pic.twitter.com/1ttgVPqK2X
— Richard Lee-Sam (@RLeesam) June 1, 2018
"THAT'S how Han Solo got his name?" pic.twitter.com/qqUc9lrjAN
— Sean Keeley (@SeanKeeleyIsMe) June 1, 2018
When you throw from the 1-yard line pic.twitter.com/7wVf8QZaDA
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) June 1, 2018
when I go to a restaurant but fill up on bread pic.twitter.com/aPykmi4h82
— actioncookbook (@actioncookbook) June 1, 2018
— Wells P (@Wells_P) June 1, 2018
"This is why I HATE group projects." pic.twitter.com/E3kaSCjySo
— Andrew Bucholtz (@AndrewBucholtz) June 1, 2018
There were plenty of funny tweets without that photo, too, including some from other NBA players:
Jr is on that henny lol pic.twitter.com/0GBhgXjVyt
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) June 1, 2018
He’s really tryna take that Shaqtin A fool MVP from me lmao
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) June 1, 2018
R u kidding me!!!!! #Dumbo
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) June 1, 2018
And plenty from other people:
ah damn, "I made a decision because I wrongly believed I was doing better than I was" is jr smith making a modern art exhibition of like 10 years in my dating history
— Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub) June 1, 2018
Suddenly, I realized hiring J.R. Smith as my financial adviser may have been a mistake.
— Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub) June 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/Diane_7A/status/1002406041139793925
BREAKING: White House prepares pardon for J.R. Smith
— Arturo R. Garcia (@aboynamedart) June 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/1002391653775265792
JR Smith… 💀😅
(Pic via @natt0) #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/IxfMeZ9p9p
— YourSports (@YourSports) June 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/LSUcaligrl/status/1002404637092163584
To be fair to him, Smith said afterwards he knew the score and he thought head coach Ty Lue would call the timeout:
JR Smith: "I was trying to get enough to bring it out to get a shot off. I knew we were tied, I thought we were going to call timeout. If I thought we were ahead, I'd have held onto the ball and let them foul me."
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) June 1, 2018
But that doesn’t seem to really fit with what he’s doing there. And even if that was the plan, that’s a curious move, especially considering how many chances they had to get up an open shot. And these memes are going to be remembered for a while.
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About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.