One New York Knick wins the NBA Scoring Title, another wins 6th Man, will another win the Best Defensive Player? Finals MVP? All of that is unclear at the moment, but what is certain is that Carmelo Anthony was not the only reason the Knicks finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference.
Credit: Barton Silverman – The New York Times
J.R. Smith is one of those unique players – a starter who comes off the bench. He may always start the game with his sweats on (all 80 games played in this season), but for 30+ minutes he is on the court taking over the game. Smith finished the year with averages of: 18.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, and 33.5 MPG. Most of which are up quite a bit compared to his career stats.
In all honesty, it was a simple decision for the sports writers and broadcasters who were honored with filling out the ballot. J.R., and they showed it by giving him almost 50% of the votes alone. He led NBA reserves with the most 30+ and 20+ point games this season, 7 and 29 respectively. He even made history in being the first player in 23 years to score 30 points off the bench in 4 games during the same month (March).
J.R. Smith was not only a huge impact for the Knicks in the sense they were +5.3 on the scoreboard when he was on the court compared to +1.9 when he was off, but also in the “big shot” sense. While Carmelo is an unbelievable talent, he’s no machine. Just like LeBron has Wade, how Kobe has Nash, and Tim Duncan has Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili – every star needs a second star or at least someone willing to take the stage. J.R. Smith provides that role for Melo in preventing him from having to score every “big moment” bucket, including last second shots (which Smith had a few of his own this season). He is one of the most explosive players in the NBA, and it is not surprising one bit that this award belongs to him this season.
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