Cleveland Cavaliers: J.R. Smith has moved on from Finals Game 1 gaffe

Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith has had his share of mistakes throughout his NBA career, both on and off the floor, and he has moved on from his NBA Finals Game 1 head-scratching moment a few months back.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need J.R. Smith to be better in 2018-19. He’s had an underwhelming last two seasons, and last year he had just 8.3 points per game with a terrible PER of just 8.5. What really stood out as the worst part of it, though, was what Smith did (or one could say didn’t do) on the game’s biggest stage.

With the score tied at 107 in a game the Cavs could have stolen on the road at the Golden State Warriors, and after guard George Hill missed a free throw and Smith got the offensive rebound with 4.7 seconds left, he dribbled away from the hoop, didn’t use the Cavaliers’ last timeout, or pass it to say, LeBron James. His indecision was the case because he reportedly didn’t know the Cavs were tied, and thought they had the lead. That led to a predictable social media firestorm, and it was warranted.

In an interview with The Undefeated’s Jesse Washington, Smith opened up on that and how he’s moved on from it, given that his teammates have stuck behind him and that it was “an honest mistake.”

"“It was tough, but it was the same after Game 2, 3 and 4. I didn’t take it no harder than those losses just because I made a mistake,” Smith said. “We all make mistakes. For my teammates to know that and have my back, [Game 1] wasn’t that bad. Talked to my coaches, everybody stood behind me 100 percent. The main thing was, OK, granted, you didn’t shoot the ball, but what if you ain’t get the rebound? Then what? We still would have been in the same situation. I could have shot and missed. Then what?“I mean, it’s an honest mistake. People make mistakes all the time.”"

Washington went on to touch on some of Smith’s other mistakes in his piece, and how this Game 1 gaffe is just another thing and that “The list goes on.”

In talking to Smith’s trainer, Chris Brickley, it’s clear that Smith has been in as much work this offseason as he has in a long time, and Brickley vouched for how mentally tough the Cavaliers’ veteran is.

"“This has been by far the most he’s been in the gym,” says Brickley, who has known Smith for 10 years. “We’ve worked out at 7 in the morning this summer, 8 in the morning this summer. We’ve also worked out at midnight. We’ve put in a ton of work. This has been by far the most that I’ve witnessed him work on his game. … Some days, you can tell when he’s out there that that’s his getaway. His peace of mind. You can just see it in his face.“He’s an extremely mentally tough person,” Brickley said. “I think that situation just made him more focused.”"

Looking toward the season ahead, Smith is in a somewhat prove-it time. He’s had a mostly down last two seasons, and that was with LeBron feeding a considerably high number of wide-open perimeter looks. That being said even with a rough PER, he has shot a respectable 35.1 and 37.5 percent on 6.6 and 4.8 three-point attempts per game, per Basketball Reference.

He’s a career 37.4 percent three-point shooter, but with the way the Cavs are heading with Rodney Hood, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman and Jordan Clarkson having more usage, Smith should not be playing starting minutes. Nonetheless, Smith can still be a productive member of the Cavaliers’ bench if he’s mentally right, because he can get hot and flip momentum in games at a moment’s notice.

He’s also proven to be a good perimeter defender when he’s mentally locked in, particularly when it comes to getting through off-ball screens and contesting snipers. He’s had two down years on defense, too, as has been reflected by his declining defensive box plus-minus, and that could have been affected by him not producing as much offensively, as our own Quenton Albertie has mentioned previously.

If Smith embraces a bench role as a veteran, he can provide the young players with somebody to go to to discuss how to handle the ups and downs of the NBA. He’s had his share of mistakes and has had to deal with anything and everything in the age of social media, but he still remains upbeat in the vast majority of situations and people in Cleveland have grown to love Smith over time.

If he can have a more efficient season, he can at least provide a veteran presence as a spot-up shooter that can stretch the defense for Sexton, Hood and Osman, and potentially a trade piece that Cleveland get a draft pick out of if a contending is willing to do so.

His Game 1 brain fart was pretty rough to watch, but Smith has gone through similar head-scratching moments in his career, so he’s more than capable of overcoming this one.