CLEVELAND -- The Cleveland Cavaliers might be tempted to add a new member to the organization after the way shooting guard J.R. Smith played against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center Wednesday night.
Prior to the Cavaliers (45-30) posting a 118-105 victory over the Hornets (34-42), Smith spent breakfast playing with a dog that visited the team hotel, and it put him at ease ahead of a spirited 19-point effort in Charlotte.
“We actually had a breakfast-brunch this morning, and I walked in the room, and there’s J.R. sitting on the floor, and I think it was a lab,” Cavaliers associate head coach Larry Drew recalled. “He’s still on the floor petting the lab, and I think it was the canine that got him going. I could tell he was very fond of that dog, and we’re going to have to get that dog back to more shootarounds.
“I could see J.R. was very fond of that dog. We had breakfast and he was there petting the dog. We had our walkthrough, and after the walkthrough, he went back over to the dog, so I think it was the canine.”
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Smith would not be opposed to that idea.
“It was right around time, especially for me,” Smith said. “I’m just an emotional person. I live in my head. I don’t really express a lot of things, but I’ll just say it was right on time.
“For me, it was right on time. It was exactly what I needed, something to take my mind off the game and something to make me feel better.”
Prior to the win over the Hornets, Smith had scored in double figures in just five of the Cavaliers’ last 13 games in March.
Smith scored the majority of those 19 points by playing a different style of basketball. Instead of posting up along the three-point line and showing off his range from long distance, Smith attacked the hoop and converted all seven of his shots on the interior.
Smith took only took two three-pointers and made one of those shots.
In addition to the points, Smith pulled down five rebounds, handed out three assists, stole three Hornets passes, committed only one turnover and finished the game plus-10 over 31 minutes of action in a reserve role.
“I just listened to (assistant) Phil Handy, really,” Smith said. “He was just telling me, ‘Take the ball to the hole. Try to get your game ignited from driving and finishing at the rim, get to the free-throw line and try to get something easy.’ That was my first instinct, take it to the rack, and fortunately, it just paid off.
“It’s just not really designed for our team, the way we play with our personnel, so it’s just a matter of I’ve got to pick and choose my spots, just be aggressive more than anything.”
