OAKLAND, Calif. -- The brain cramp heard round the world hasn't lost life the day after the Warriors escaped Game 1 of the NBA Finals with a 124-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday. The internet is still buzzing with memes, hot takes and possible explanations as to why Cavs guard J.R. Smith decided to dribble out the clock in a tie game instead of attempting to shoot at the end of regulation.

On Thursday night, Smith insisted that he knew the game was tied, and that he thought his team was going to call a timeout. Meanwhile at the podium, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said that Smith "thought we were up one." Whatever the case may be, the mistake will go down as one of the biggest blunders in NBA Finals history, and may have cost the Cavs their only shot at a win at Oracle Arena.

Lue, however, said on Friday that he thinks his much-maligned shooting guard will bounce back from the mistake, and gave him credit for even getting the rebound in the first place.

"Yes, we've talked, but I'm not going to share that conversation last night," Lue said. "It's a tough play. If J.R. Smith doesn't get the offensive rebound, they might get the rebound, call timeout and win in regulation. Just him fighting for that rebound at the end of the game was important. Whether he knew time or score or not, getting the rebound and not getting the shot off, it was big, because they could have gotten the rebound, called timeout and, like I said, won in regulation.

" ... And no, I haven't lost confidence. J.R. can shake off anything, and when everybody tends to count J.R. out, that's when he comes through. So he's definitely going to start again. He's a big part of what we do. That last play is over, it's behind us and now we've got to move on."

This is the expected response from Lue, discussing a player who's been a key part of the Cavs lineup in their four straight Finals appearances, including the 2016 championship. But the questions about whether Smith should start go far beyond the one late-game lapse.

Smith's shooting 37 percent on 3-pointers this postseason, down from a blistering 50 percent last postseason and 43 percent in 2016. As a primary floor-spacer, Smith is essential to the Cavs offense functioning the way it's supposed to -- in playoff wins, Smith is averaging 9.6 points and shooting 44 percent from the 3-point line, and in losses he's averaging 6.9 points and shooting 26 percent 3s.

Some question whether sharpshooter Kyle Korver should be getting the bulk of the minutes at shooting guard, but Lue has been hesitant to play Korver because of his defensive deficiencies. So it appears that we'll see Smith in the starting lineup once again in Game 2 on Sunday, with a chance to show us all that his Game 1 mistake is truly behind him.