J.R. Smith’s reputation precedes him.
During the fourth quarter of the New York Knicks’ 98-83 loss to the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, Smith appeared to hit Glen Rice Jr. in the groin as he was driving right. Though nothing happened at the time, Smith was later suspended for New York’s game against the Detroit Pistons (another loss). The question is whether or not his groin shot was actually deliberate.
The Wizards believe it was, according to the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
J.R. Smith’s availability for Wednesday’s game in Detroit could be in doubt if the NBA deems his fourth-quarter incident with Glenn Rice Jr. intentional. The Knicks’ volatile shooting guard was caught on video appearing to whack Rice’s groin while Smith was dribbling in the Knicks’ 98-83 loss to the Wizards.
Rice crumbled to the floor, but was assessed a blocking foul on the play.
According to a Wizards team source, Washington believes Smith did it intentionally with the Knicks trailing by double digits. Smith didn’t make himself available for comment after the game.
Here’s a video of the incident:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2atu6HF29Y
Now, I’m not one to defend Smith—that whole going to a funeral for Game 5 against the Boston Celtics in 2013 was so, so stupid. But this doesn’t look all that intentional. It seems more like a reputation call.
If it was deliberate, well, Smith is one of the most subtle nut-whatckers I’ve ever seen. He only needed to jerk his elbow once before “connecting” with Rice. And that isn’t to say that Rice flopped or oversold his pain. It’s unlikely the Wizards would be making a behind-the-scenes stink about it if he exaggerated the contact in any way. It just seems like this was, well, actually an accident.
One that cost the Knicks.
Justified or not, the suspension bilked the Knicks of Smith when they needed him most in Detroit. Carmelo Anthony went ice cold, as did the Knicks offense for quite some time. Smith would have given them another perimeter shot-creator who might have prevented the Pistons game from getting out of hand. I mean, when Jason Smith is playing like your best scorer, you have problems.
The 2-3 Knicks will face the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, their rotation still in disarray, their offense still archaic and slow. Smith will, presumably, be on the floor this time around.
Hopefully he can resist the urge, deliberate or subconscious, to test the durability of Brooklyn’s players’ midsections.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
