Through the first four games of the series, the home team has been victorious in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith, however, couldn't be happier to be back in Boston.
"I've always liked playing on the road in the playoffs more than I like playing at home," Smith said following Cavs shootaround on Wednesday, hours prior to their Game 5 matchup with the Celtics in Boston. "Granted, at home, you've got the crowd with you and stuff like that. But there's nothing better than silencing the crowd on the road."
Although the numbers this postseason wouldn't necessarily back that up -- especially thus far in this series -- Smith has a history of performing well away from home in postseason play.
In 2015, he scored 28 points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals in what was ultimately a Cavs sweep of the Atlanta Hawks. A year later, he scored 15 points in Cleveland's Game 6 closeout of Toronto in the Eastern Finals before making four 3-pointers in the Cavs' Game 7 victory over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
Much like last postseason, Smith has largely struggled in these playoffs -- although his best game thus far did come on the road, as he scored 20 points in the Cavs' Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After being held to just three total points in Cleveland's first two losses in Boston in this series, the 14th-year sharpshooter bounced back to score 11 and 9 points, respectively, in the Cavs' victories in Games 3 and 4 to even the best-of-series.
And despite four of his team's five postseason losses coming on the road, Smith remains confident that momentum will carry over into Wednesday night.
"We have the ability to do it," Smith said. "It's just a matter of going out and doing it at this point. You just gotta keep a level head. This crowd's going to be loud."
If Smith has his way, that won't be lasting long.
