George Hill 'Up All Night' Watching Late Missed FT Before JR Smith Gaffe

JR Smith received the majority of the criticism for the Cleveland Cavaliers' 124-114 overtime loss in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, but if not for his teammate coming up short, he would never have been put in that situation. 

George Hill knows that—and he lost sleep over it.

With his team trailing 107-106 and 4.7 seconds remaining in the fourth, the veteran point guard went to the line for a pair of free throws that could give the Cavs the lead (and possibly the win). He calmly tied the game with his first attempt but came up short on the potential go-ahead shot, setting the stage for Smith's all-time blunder.

JR in LALA Land

According to ESPN's Marc J. Spears, Hill revealed on Friday that he "stayed up all night watching the free throw and watching the play." 

After the game, there were questions as to whether or not Smith knew the score as he dribbled the ball out of traffic and out to half-court. Smith told reporters he did, though cameras appeared to catch him telling LeBron James in the moment that he thought the team was ahead.

Regardless of Smith's thought process on the court, one thing is for certain: Smith isn't in that situation if Hill—a career 80-percent free-throw shooter—makes his second shot.

Well, he missed, and Cleveland never got a shot off before the buzzer. The Warriors would go on to outscore the Cavaliers, 17-7, in overtime to take the first game of the series.

It won't make Hill feel any better, but it's important to note there's no guarantee that the Cavs would have won the game even if he had made the second free throw. Golden State would have had the ball with nearly five seconds remaining and four All-Stars on the floor. It's possible they could have come up with at least one point on a final possession.

Knowing that won't help Hill get over his shortcoming, though. He told reporters on Friday that Game 1 was the toughest loss of his career, ESPN's Dave McMenamin: "This one hurt. This one hurt bad."

Hill and the Cavs must now wait until Sunday night in order to try to bounce back.