The Cleveland Cavaliers nearly shocked Oracle Arena with a Game 1 victory over the Golden State Warriors, but J.R. Smith committed a costly gaffe that will be talked about for years to come.

George Hill attempted a go-ahead free throw with four seconds left. His shot came up short, but Smith controlled the rebound and tried to run out the clock. Turns out, Smith thought his team was in the lead - rather than the fact he had the chance to hit a game-winning buzzer beater.

The game went to overtime, but the Cavaliers never came close. Clearly rattled from Smith's late mistake, Cleveland lost 124-114, just when it looked like they were about to steal home court advantage away from Golden State.

LeBron James - who's had to do virtually all the work in getting his team to the NBA Finals - was visibly angry and frustrated with the mistake made by his teammate. Cleveland now trails 1-0, and they'll have quite the task in stealing four of the next six games from the superior Warriors.

LeBron also put up another legendary performance, which went to waste. His 51 points were the fourth-most ever in an NBA Finals game. He also picked up eight assists and eight rebounds in the contest.

With the exception of Kevin Love (21 points and 14 rebounds), LeBron got little support from his teammates. The Warriors got the usual strong production from Kevin Durant (26 points and nine rebounds), Stephen Curry (29 points and nine assists), and Klay Thompson (24 points and a plus-nine rating).

via Twitter

For what it's worth, the Cavaliers did lose Game 1 of the 2016 NBA Finals - and they rallied back from a 3-1 deficit to win the title. That's one of the few ways they can look at this loss in a positive perspective, because it certainly feels like one that can get away.

The good news for Smith? This is a best-of-seven. There's plenty of time for him to redeem himself.

NEXT: 76ERS FAVORITES TO SIGN LEBRON JAMES