J.R. Smith had a very disappointing Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals. Making a contested corner three for the first basket of the game just seemed customary for him. However, since making that shot, he only attempted three more for the rest of the game, all whilst making none of them. He also only attempted one shot after the first quarter. J.R. is too lethal of a shooter to have only attempted four shots in Game 1. The Cavaliers need to find a way to get him into some sort of rhythm in Game 2.
During an interview on Saturday, Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue gave his thoughts on how J.R. Smith needs to play in the upcoming games of this series.
“He’s an assassin. We’re reminding him of that. Go out there and shoot. We need him to.”
In the fourteen playoff games the Cavaliers have played thus far, J.R. has only scored in double figures twice. He needs to regain his “when in doubt, shoot the ball” mentality if they hope to return to Cleveland with the series tied.
In an interview, J.R. Smith was asked about Golden State’s defensive schemes and he responded with the following statement.
“They do a great job of taking away the 3. That’s why they have been one of the top defensive teams in the league the last three years. And we just got to do a better job of finishing at the rim to make those guys come to us. If we do that and eliminate the turnovers, it will be a different Game 2.”
