The Cavs held a five-point lead with seconds to play in the first quarter on Sunday night in Indiana, but a shooting foul on Victor Oladipo allowed the Pacers star to cut the lead to three heading into the second quarter. Or so it seemed.
Oladipo hit both free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining on the clock to make it 27-24 Cleveland and the general assumption was the Cavs would, at best, fire off a heave at the buzzer that would fall harmlessly, but J.R. Smith had other ideas.
Smith took the inbounds pass on the right side of the floor and cut across the court to the left side where he hoisted a one-footed runner from the opposite three-point line that found nothing but net as the buzzer sounded, sending his teammates into a frenzy.
JR SWISH FROM THE PARKING LOT https://t.co/C6Mkv8Jfx7
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 23, 2018
It’s the ultimate J.R. Smith moment, as Chris Webber notes because so few players are even willing to take those heaves before the buzzer sounds for fear of their shooting percentage. Smith, however, has never met a shot he doesn’t like and while that can sometimes be to his detriment, in this case it’s what allows him to pull this off with no regard for his own stats.
The shot wasn’t just a perfect J.R. Smith moment, but it also gave the Cavs some momentum heading into the second quarter and pushed their lead out to six points — the most they led by all quarter — despite some solid Indiana play down the stretch.
