LeBron James Calls Game 1 Loss ‘One of Toughest’ of His Career

Cavs in NBA Finals hole after horrible mistake by J.R. Smith, missed free throw by George Hill.

LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on May 31, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on May 31, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

He may have experience losing games to the Golden State Warriors, but LeBron James found the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss harder to bear than the others.

James did his part, posting 51 points in the first game of the NBA Finals, but watched his team squander a lead in the fourth quarter. George Hill missed a free throw that could’ve won the game with 4.7 seconds remaining. That miss became the stuff of NBA infamy when J.R. Smith mishandled the offensive rebound, dribbling out the clock under the mistaken belief that the Cavs had the lead.

They didn’t. The game improbably went to overtime, when the Warriors took over.

Days later, LeBron is still reeling.

“It’s one of the toughest losses I’ve had in my career as well because of everything that kind of went on with the game and the way we played,” James told the media on Saturday. “It was a tough 24 hours not only for (George) land for myself but for our whole ballclub because we put ourselves in a great position to be successful.”

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