Things didn’t go so well for J.R. Smith in his Cavs debut, but his pre-game comments should have tipped off fans. After Smith mentioned his shoot-first mentality before the game, he went 0-for-5 against Houston last night during a 105-93 loss to the Rockets. He also tried his best to draw a charge on James Harden and merely exacerbated his tough opening in Cleveland.
Smith said before the game his “motto is: ‘when in doubt, shoot,'” but that didn’t take anyone off guard since Smith’s entire ontology is to shoot…
JR Smith before 1st Cavs game tonight: "my motto is 'when in doubt, shoot!' Hopefully that doesn't catch anybody off guard."
— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) January 7, 2015
In 17 minutes of action, Smith was 0-for-5 (0-of-4 from deep) with three fouls and two turnovers.
He did get a block and a steal, but we’ll always remember his Cavs debut for his flop against James Harden.
Does the Beard sometimes use his right hand to devastating effect on his left-handed drives? Absolutely, all good basketball players do, within reason — we’ve seen Harden get whistled for an offensive foul while pushing off the defender. Is James doing it enough here to send Smith sprawling on the hardwood. No, but that’s what Smith did anyway:
He didn’t get the call, or score his first Cavs points or really do anything that might remind Cavs fans Dion Waiters was struggling almost as badly in his OKC debut. JR Swish is a Cavs player now, for better or worse, and at least he was trying to play defense — even without Mike Woodson looking at him with a frown.
How will Smith do in Cleveland?
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