LeBron James: Cavaliers' Game 1 Defeat To Warriors 'One Of The Toughest'

LeBron James labeled the Cleveland Cavaliers' Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals as "one of the toughest" of his career.

James put up a monstrous performance as he finished Game 1 with 51 points, eight rebounds and eight assists Thursday night as it looked like the Cleveland side would upset the odds at the Oracle Arena.

However, James would become the first player to score at least 50 points in an NBA Finals game and still be on the losing side as his performance was not even the major headline of the night.

With the Cavs having a chance to take the lead with 4.7 seconds left in the fourth quarter as George Hill stepped up at the free throw line, the guard would crucially miss his second free throw with the game tied at 107-107.

J.R. Smith was able to get the rebound but instead of attempting to score, dribbled out the clock much to the bewilderment of James as the game eventually went into overtime.

The Warriors would take full advantage of Smith's blunder as they went on to win 124-114 to take a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.

Following the game, although James said it was the best postseason performance from the Cavs, he did not take consolation from it due to the fact that they lost.

The 33-year-old has lost many NBA Finals games, including 12 to the Warriors over the last four years, but this loss in particular was a hard one to swallow given they had a real chance of winning on the road against the defending champions.

"It's one of the toughest losses I've had in my career as well because of everything that kind of went on with the game and the way we played," James said Saturday, as per ESPN. "It was a tough 24 hours not only for [George] Hill and for myself but for our whole ballclub because we put ourselves in a great position to be successful."

James, though, said it's a new day and was ready to move on as he attempted to set an example during practice Saturday.

"It's a new day. For me, I woke up feeling excited about the opportunity for us to get better today, excited about the opportunity that presents itself tomorrow," James added. "You give yourself a day. If you need to take two days, OK, but today you should feel excited about the opportunity to be better and be great and move forward."

"The game is over. There's nothing you can do about it," Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said, echoing James' sentiments. "So we've got to move on, move forward. And from watching film today and just showing some guys where we can get better, all the guys are in a great spot right now and in a great position."

Game 2 takes place Sunday at the Oracle Arena.