LeBron James defied belief with another brilliant playoff performance and was in utter disbelief at the officials and a play by teammate J.R. Smith down the stretch that sent the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 124-114 overtime loss to Golden State in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

James posted the first 50-point game in the finals since Michael Jordan did it 25 years ago and had the Cavaliers in position to stun the heavily favored Warriors in the opener before a disputed replay overturn and Smith’s blunder turned the tide in Golden State’s favor.

”Tonight we played as well as we’ve played all postseason Nick Nelson Color Rush Jersey , and we gave ourselves a chance possession after possession after possession,” James said. ”There were just some plays that were kind of taken away from us. Simple as that.”

James finished with 51 points in the highest scoring finals game in a losing effort and had the Cavaliers in position to win when his pass down low to George Hill drew a foul on Klay Thompson with 4.6 seconds left and Cleveland trailing 107-106. Hill hit the first shot to tie the game but missed the second.

Smith secured the rebound but dribbled to half court, a play usually made with the lead. James was calling for the ball that entire time and could only hold his arms out in shock before walking back to the huddle for overtime.

While coach Tyronn Lue said Smith thought the Cavs were up by a point, Smith insisted he knew the score.

”I knew it was tied,” he said. ”I thought we were going to take a timeout because I got the rebound. I’m pretty sure everybody didn’t think I was going to shoot it over KD right there. … I tried to bring it out and get enough space to maybe get a shot off. I looked over at LeBron and he looked like he was trying to get a timeout. So I stopped, and the game was over.”

James said he didn’t know what Smith was thinking and walked out of the postgame news conference after growing tired of repeated questioning about whether Smith knew the score.

”I don’t know what J.R. was thinking,” James said, refusing to speculate on Smith’s thought process. ”I don’t know the question you’re trying to ask.”

The Cavaliers were not able to recover from Smith’s blunder.

The Warriors scored on their first possession of overtime when Durant drew a foul from Hill that upset James once again and never looked back, outscoring Cleveland 17-7 in the extra session.

The game ended with James jawing with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and then teammate Tristan Thompson getting ejected for a flagrant foul after he got upset when Shaun Livingston attempted a shot when the game was already in hand instead of taking a shot-clock violation.

There were several calls down the stretch that angered James, with the biggest coming after James drove past Stephen Curry for a three-point play that put Cleveland up 104-102 with 50 seconds left.

James appeared to draw a charge on Durant. But officials went to the replay to see if James was in the restricted area which would make it a block. While James was clearly outside the restricted area, officials also had the chance to review whether James was in legal guarding position and changed the call to a block.

”I thought I read that play just as well as I read any play in my career Tyquan Lewis Color Rush Jersey , defensively,” James said. ”I saw the drive, I was outside the charge line, I stepped in, took the contact. It’s a huge play. It’s a huge play.”

James answered with an impressive drive, changing hands in midair before scoring to give the Cavs the lead. But it wasn’t enough when Curry answered with a three-point play followed by Smith’s miscue.

The opener of the fourth straight finals between these teams followed a familiar script with the deeper Warriors overcoming a sensational individually effort by James the way they did in winning the past two titles.

James had his highest-scoring playoff game ever, tied Jerry West for the most 40-point games in a single postseason with eight and almost single-handedly led the Cavs to the win.

He made 19 of 32 shots, added eight rebounds and eight assists and played nearly 48 minutes for a third straight game.

But the lasting image of this game will be of James calling for the ball behind the 3-point line as Smith dribbled out the clock in a play reminiscent of one made by Dallas’ Derek Harper in a playoff loss to the Lakers 34 years ago.

”It was epic,” Lue said ”He did enough to carry this team to a victory. We just came up short. But this is LeBron James, that’s who he is. That’s why he’s the best player in the world. He’s been doing it for us all season.

”To do what he did tonight and come out robbed, it’s just not right.”

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Carlos Gonzalez came to the plate in the fourth inning with a runner on first and nobody out and saw the shift-happy Philadelphia Phillies move three infielders to the right of second base.

The lefty slugger promptly laid down a bunt where nobody was on the left side http://www.coltsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-braden-smith-jersey , sparking a big inning as another of manager Gabe Kapler’s defensive moves backfired.

Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer in that five-run fourth, Tyler Anderson pitched seven strong innings and the Colorado Rockies routed the Phillies 7-2 on Wednesday night to end a five-game losing streak.

”We were probably most excited about CarGo’s bunt,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. ”After the Nolan (Arenado) walk and then the bunt, that sort of set everything up. It got us going. And CarGo practices that every day.”

Trevor Story added three hits and drove in two for the Rockies, who had dropped nine of 11 while falling from first place to fourth in the NL West.

Anderson (4-1) allowed one run and six hits while matching his longest outing of the season, set in his last start.

”I think we were feeding off Andy a little there. He pitched great tonight,” Desmond said. ”An electric fastball. He was locating all his pitches. He was working quick. You could tell he was pitching with a purpose tonight. And as an offense, I think we fed off that.”

Jorge Alfaro and Jesmuel Valentin homered for the Phillies, who were seeking their first three-game winning streak since May 13-17.

Gonzalez’s bunt was another blow to the Phillies’ defensive alignments, which came under criticism from Philadelphia pitcher Jake Arrieta after a loss at San Francisco earlier this month.

”I don’t think it’s something we want to see him do every day,” Desmond said of Gonzalez. ”But that built momentum. It kept it going.”

Nick Pivetta (4-6) struck out five straight batters in the second and third innings. But the bunt was the first of five straight hits allowed before he recorded an out in the fifth. Story had an RBI double off the wall and Gerardo Parra followed with a two-run single.

Desmond http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-anthony-averett-jersey , who came in hitting .196, then sent an 0-1 slider into the right-field seats for his 12th homer to make it 6-0.

”I hung a couple breaking balls tonight and they’re a good-hitting club,” Pivetta said.

Story, who had his career-high fifth straight multihit game, had another run-scoring double in the seventh against Mark Leiter Jr., giving him 49 RBIs.

Pivetta, who lost his fourth straight start, was charged with six runs on eight hits with three walks over five innings.

Anderson didn’t allow a walk and struck out six, including Scott Kingery three times. He used his awkward lefty delivery to keep the Phillies off balance, save for an 0-2 fastball that Alfaro hit to right for his fifth homer in the fifth.

Valentin had three hits, including his first major league homer in the ninth off Harrison Musgrave.

”As soon as I hit it http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-kerryon-johnson-jersey , I thought I had a chance,” Valentin said. ”Thank God I got it out of the way.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: Reliever Adam Ottavino (oblique) felt good after throwing Tuesday. ”He’s champing at the bit to get back on the mound,” Black said. ”We’re really optimistic that this could happen in a couple days.” Ottavino has a team-best 0.95 ERA.

Phillies: Reliever Pat Neshek (shoulder, forearm) will throw all of his pitches in a bullpen Thursday. If it goes well, he’ll head to Florida to throw live batting practice. Neshek, who signed a two-year, $16.5 million deal in December, has yet to throw a pitch this season. ”The greatest acquisition we can make right now is inserting Pat Neshek in our bullpen,” Kapler said.

FRANCO BACK, HERRERA SITS

Slumping 3B Maikel Franco started after being out of the Philadelphia lineup five straight games and went 0 for 4.

CF Odubel Herrera, 0 for 17 in the past four games Byron Maxwell Color Rush Jersey , didn’t play.

PICK SIGNS

The Rockies signed former Mississippi LHP Ryan Rolison, the 22nd overall pick in last week’s draft.

MUSGRAVE BACK

Musgrave returned from his grandfather’s funeral in West Virginia, was activated off the bereavement list and pitched the ninth. LHP Sam Howard was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque.

UP NEXT

Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (4-7, 4.95 ERA) starts the series finale Thursday against RHP German Marquez (4-6, 4.79). Velasquez was charged with 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings in his last start.

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