Cleveland Cavaliers guard JR Smith took just four shots in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and the team knows that has to change.
Coach Tyronn Lue admitted that the team has been encouraging Smith to shoot more, with the Cavs needing significant offensive production to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors.
“He’s an assassin,” Lue said Saturday, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “We’re reminding him of that. Go out there and shoot. We need him to.”
Smith, for his part, implied that he was having a hard time getting good looks against the tenacious Warrior defense.
“They do a great job of taking away the 3,” Smith said. “That’s why they have been one of the top defensive teams in the league the last three years. And we just got to do a better job of finishing at the rim to make those guys come to us. If we do that and eliminate the turnovers, it will be a different Game 2.”
He may not be wrong, but it doesn’t really matter. Smith has taken more successful shots against the Warriors in the media than he has on the floor in this series. That will have to change.
