J.R. Smith on Epic NBA Blunder: I Thought We Were Calling Time Out

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ J.R. Smith has tried to explain his incredible blunder in Thursday night’s Game 1 of the NBA Finals, which saw him inexplicably dribble out the clock in a tie game. Lip-readers speculated that Smith said “I thought we were ahead” after making the call, and Cavs’ Coach Tyronn Lue said Smith “thought we were up one” when he made the bizarre decision in the remaining seconds of regulation play, but the shooting guard gave a different explanation in a post-match interview. “It was a tie ballgame and we had a timeout,” Smith said. “I tried to get enough space because, obviously, KD [Kevin Durant] was standing right there. I tried to get enough space to bring it out to maybe get a shot off. And then I looked over at Bron [LeBron James] and he looked like he was trying to call a timeout. So I stopped. And then the game was over.” The Golden State Warriors went on to beat the Cavs in overtime, 124-114, after an extraordinary 51-point game by James.