The look on Draymond Green’s face was one of confusion. The questioner revealed in the postgame interview that J.R. Smith said he knew the game was tied when he dribbled out the final seconds of regulation. Green’s faced immediately scrunched and his head tilted. It was like he was landing a sitcom punchline. Like he knew he was creating a viral response to the grandest of mistakes.



No, Green wasn’t actually bewildered. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was, as the millennials say, trolling.



“That’s a part of the game, being locked in,” Green said, taking his jabs at Smith. “I mean, you’ve got to know the score. That’s just kind of basketball. You got to know if you’re winning or losing or tied. Like I said, we’ll take it.”



A riveting Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals digressed into a dramatic mess. Once the Warriors were gifted a reprieve by Smith’s blunder in the final seconds,...