What Was J.R. Smith Thinking?
An overtime game. A 51-point performance. A scuffle. An overturned, controversial call.
There was plenty to remember in Game 1 of the NBA finals on Thursday night. But there’s a good chance that what will be remembered is a player who did not seem to know the score.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, 12½ point underdogs on the road, led by 11 early on with LeBron James showing his greatest-of-all-time form (he wound up with a playoff career high 51 points, along with eight rebounds and eight assists).
By halftime, though, it was tied, and the result hung in the balance as time ticked away in regulation.
The Cavaliers seemed to catch a break when Kevin Durant was called for a charge on James, but it was overturned on review (“it’s never been done, ever, in the history of the game,” Cavs Coach Tyronn Lue contended).
Cleveland trailed by 1 with 4.5 seconds left when George Hill went to the line. He made the first and missed the second. Tie game.
In an athletic play that certainly would be lauded had things turned out differently, J.R. Smith snagged a one-handed rebound. He was just feet from the basket. But inexplicably, he dribbled away, far past the 3-point arc. He could’ve taken a shot, or passed to a wide open LeBron James at the top of the key. He did neither. Finally, perhaps realizing his mistake, Smith passed the ball to Hill in the corner, but time expired before he could get a shot off.
LeBron James seemed to be pointing in the direction of the basket as the incident played out. His emphatic arms-out gesture at Smith after time expired quickly became the most posted and copied image from the game.
Smith’s puzzling move seemed to be the action of a player who thought his team was ahead. Coach Lue confirmed this after the game: “He thought we were up one.”
But Smith said he knew the game was tied: “I was trying to get enough space to bring it out to maybe get a shot off. I looked over at LeBron, and it looked like he was trying to call timeout, so I just stopped.”
“No, I knew it was tied,” he said, noting that big Kevin Durant was right by him after the rebound. “I’m pretty sure everybody didn’t think I was going to shoot it over K.D. right there.”
Smith said that if he had thought his team was ahead, as many suggested, he would have acted differently. “If I thought we were ahead, then I would have just held onto the ball and let them foul me,” Smith said. “So, clearly that wasn’t the case.”
Asked about the play, James said, “I don’t know what J.R. was thinking,” then walked out of a news conference when pressed.
Other N.B.A. players, watching from afar, were quick to weigh in on Smith’s gaffe.
There was still time in the game for trouble in overtime, which the Warriors dominated on the way to a 124-114 victory. Tristan Thompson of the Cavaliers was called for a flagrant foul on Shaun Livingston. He was ejected, then shoved the ball in Draymond Green’s face. Coach Lue said Thompson was upset that Livingston had taken a shot with the game already decided.
Smith, 32, is an NBA veteran of four teams (plus a stint with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls in China). He has had a knack for making news: a 10-game suspension as a Nugget in 2006 for his part in an on-court brawl with the Knicks; a suspension as a Nugget for an incident in a nightclub; and again as a Knick for a drug violation; and yet another as a Cavalier in the 2015 playoffs for an elbowing incident. He is also known for his tattoos, which cover a good chunk of his body.
Smith holds the N.B.A. record for most 3-point shots in a game, 22, in 2014 (he made 10). But the shot he did not take on Thursday may overshadow every one of those.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "What Was JR Smith Thinking?"
Post a Comment