NBA Finals: Top 10 Moments of the Warriors-Cavs Rivalry 

6. George Hill & JR Smith throw away Game 1 of 2018 Finals

LeBron frustrated after Cavaliers throw away Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals

The Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers met for the 4th consecutive time in 4 years. Heading into Game 1, the Cavaliers were massive underdogs with the news line being that the Cavs are short of All-Stars and LeBron has absolutely no help around him. That proved to be true in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.

With Cleveland leading 104-102 and approximately 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Warriors forward Kevin Durant drove to the basket against the Cavaliers' Jeff Green. As Durant, driving left, turned the corner on Green, he met LeBron James (as the help defender) in the lane, where the two superstars collided.

Official Ken Mauer, the game's crew chief, initially whistled Durant for a charge, with possession returning to Cleveland with 36.4 seconds remaining and a two-point lead. Later the crew decided to review the call to examine whether James was situated fully outside the restricted area and ended up reversing the call saying that it was a blocking foul rather than a charge which sent Durant to the line with for 2 free throws.

With only 4.7 seconds left in the game, George Hill (an 80% free throw shooter) had a chance to give the Cavaliers a 1-point lead and potentially a chance to win and steal game 1. Hill makes the first one but misses the second free throw and the rebound went to J.R, who dribbles the ball out to mid-court forgetting that the Cavs weren’t winning and also had forgotten that the Cavs had one timeout left with them.

This is heartbreaking! Long uncut footage of LeBron, JR Smith & George Hill after Smith's mistake in Game 1. pic.twitter.com/MplQoAkk0a

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 4, 2018

James’ reaction when he went to the bench afterwards and asked Ty Lue if the team still had a timeout at that time, summed up the kind of season that the Cavaliers have had and showed the impossibility of James’ situation that he has to do his absolute best to combat both the super-powered Warriors and the ineptitude of his own teammates.

He ended with a stat line of 51 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists and still couldn’t defeat the Warriors. The Cavs were not able to come out of this blunder mentally which lead to the warriors sweeping the Cavs and winning their 3rd championship in 4 years.