Draymond Green was ultimately shocked to hear that J.R. Smith was aware the score was tied before he took an offensive rebounding opportunity out to the 3-point line, freezing out the last 4.5 seconds of regulation with the score still tied at 107.
Posed with the question, Green tried to play the diplomatic approach, but couldn't help himself from having a candid reaction once he was told Smith was indeed aware of the score.
“Sometimes you need a little luck,” said Green after a 124-114 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. “Sometimes it's good to be lucky. I'll take it.”
“I think that when he got the rebound, he probably could have layed it up, but that's a part of the game — you gotta know the score. That's kind of basketball, you gotta know whether you're winning, or losing, or tied.”
Draymond Green: “You gotta know the score.” And then wait until you see his face when he finds out J.R. Smith claimed he knew the score was tied. pic.twitter.com/WgDhgoK0NL
— The Athletic Bay Area (@TheAthleticSF) June 1, 2018
Green's expression sums up just what everyone felt like when first hearing he was actually aware of the score — wait, what?
Had Smith been aware or wanting to call timeout like he said he intended to, why would he just not turn to the official and call it? Why dribble the ball into the 3-point line and waste precious seconds of possession?
Why make an already tough task of scoring with limited time on the clock that much tougher?
Only Smith can answer those questions, and in all honesty — it's likely he's still asking himself whether he was aware of his thoughts or not while making a bone-headed play that ultimately ended up costing his team the game.
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