J.R. Smith denies tweeting “Cavs in 7”

There’s no way to sugarcoat it, Game 3 was a heartbreaking loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Their Game 2 performance felt like it would have been enough last year, so to see an even greater effort come up short in the Final minutes was excruciatingly painful.

At this point it’s pretty clear that the Golden State Warriors will win the 2017 NBA Finals. They are clearly the better team and have shown another, frankly terrifying, gear in these Finals.

If there’s one thing that you can count on, it’s J.R. Smith being good for an amazing quote. After finally coming through with a good performance, even if it was in a loss, having a “J.R.” moment felt more tolerable. So when his Twitter account tweeted “Cavs in 7” after the loss, it was some much needed comic relief.

Though the tweet was quickly deleted, as Smith advised that he had been hacked:

Smith later added that while he didn’t tweet “Cavs in 7”, he can’t help but enjoy the message.

The saddest part of these Finals is that it throws the future of this version of the Cavs roster into question. The team will undoubtedly look to retool to better face this Warriors team, meaning almost anybody could be moved. This team is so likable and the core was responsible for ending Cleveland’s championship drought. In another time, this team could have been a lovable, and slightly dysfunctional, dynasty. But the reality of what the Warriors have become seems to have put an end to that.

Unless the Cavs can muster up another unthinkable comeback, the future of the Cavs will remain uncertain.