How bad was JR Smith in the Cavs Game 2 loss to the Celtics on Tuesday?
Bad! REALLY BAD! And I mean bad as in "he had a really bad game bad" and "he's acting really bad and needs to be disciplined bad."
He was so bad, he had Celtics fans chanting "Fuck You JR." The reason why they were chanting this is because he pushed Al Horford in the back on an alley-oop attempt and was only hit with a Flagrant 1. A lot of angered fans were hoping to see him get hit with a Flagrant 2 and a punch by Marcus Smart.
While the fans were letting Smith know how much he's liked in Boston, Reggie Miller tweeted this.
"Now hold up!!!! DeMar DeRozan got TOSSED and a Flagrant 2 vs Cleveland in Semifinal's, how is JR Smith still in this game?? BE CONSISTENT!!!"
After the game, Smart called the play "dirty" and said Smith has a history of playing that way.
"That's a dirty shot. You can't allow that to keep happening. That's not the first time J.R. has done some dirty stuff. He's known for it.
"It's like a bully, you keep letting a bully keep picking on you, he's going to pick on you until you finally stand up. And that's what I tried to do."
Al Horford said the play was "uncalled for" but didn't call out Smith.
"I felt like it was uncalled for that type of play there...We moved on to the next play way and we locked in after that."
His sister, Anna Horford, didn't mind calling out Smith.
Emotions were clearly running high, lol. Damn, that made me mad.
— Anna Horford (@AnnaHorford) May 16, 2018
Smith admitted the foul was intentional but without malicious intent.
"I blatantly pushed him. It wasn't like I was trying to low bridge him or something. Just make sure he didn't get it. It was a good, hard foul."
DIRTY HISTORY
If you are trying to think of past "dirty plays" by Smith, here's two that Boston fans will probably bring up.
The first came in the 2013 Playoffs, when Smith elbowed Jason Terry in the face. The second came in 2015, when he was ejected for back slapping Jae Crowder in the face.
And here's a countdown full of plays that fans of other teams will probably bring up.
BAD SHOOTING NIGHT
Celtics fans weren't the only fans cursing out Smith on this night. A lot of Cavs fans weren't too happy to see Smith follow up his 2-for-9 performance in Game 1 with a 0-for-7 donut in Game 2. After two games, he's averaging just two points on .125 shooting.
This is coming after a pretty decent series against the Raptors, which ended with Smith going 6-of-6 in Game 4 and him joking about "hitting the green" after the game.
But as bad as Smith's shooting was on Tuesday, he did have a worse game against the Pacers in round 1: 0 points (0-8 FG, 0-6 3PT), 3 fouls, 2 turnovers in 33 minutes.
POSTGAME