The worst shooting slump of J.R. Smith’s career has him pondering ways to break out of it. Another performance this dreary, and Smith may have to take matters into his own hands.
Or feet, as it may be.
Smith missed all 11 of the shots he took in the Cavaliers’ win Sunday over the Philadelphia 76ers, and he is mired in a dreadful 1-for-22 shooting slump in his last two games. He has missed 16 of his last 17 3-point attempts.
If Smith struggles again in Tuesday’s game at the Milwaukee Bucks, he knows how to break out of it when he gets home.
“One of my good friends, him and my dad are really tight. He’s an old, old, old Italian guy,” Smith said. “He told me to walk out of my front door backwards. When I get home, hopefully I’m not still shooting like this in Milwaukee, but when I go home, I’ll probably do it again.”
Old Italian custom actually has nothing to do with forward or backward. Old Italian custom is to always walk out the same door you walked in. But if Smith thinks walking backward out the door will help in some capacity, so be it.
Smith said he walked out of his house backward before Game 5 of the NBA Finals, then corrected himself and said it was before Game 4. It makes more sense if it was prior to Game 5, considering the 3-1 hole the Cavs were in when he headed to the airport. Smith also shot 3-of-10 in that Game 4 loss to the Warriors, including 2-of-8 on 3-pointers.
Either way, the sight of Smith walking out of his house backward must have been something to behold. He doesn’t plan on trying it in any hotel rooms, however.
“I don’t think that counts,” Smith said. “People will see me walking backwards, and I don’t think it would turn out good for me.”
It’s easy to laugh about Smith’s shooting struggles because the Cavs have continued to win. But he has never endured a slump like this at any point in his 13-year career. He had a 3-for-24 stretch over two games during the 2012-13 season with the New York Knicks, and he shot 4-for-27 over two games with the Denver Nuggets in 2008-09, but never anything like 1-for-22 — not even during his rookie season when he shot just .288 from the 3-point line, which easily remains his career low.
The .330 he’s shooting now from deep is his lowest mark since that rookie year.
He is a career .375 shooter from 3, so a course correction should be coming. Smith jokingly blamed reporters for his slump because he recently moved into 15th place on the league’s career list of 3-pointers.
“Y’all keep writing every time I hit a 3 I’m about to pass somebody,” he joked. “I gotta blame somebody. I can’t take all the blame. I’m out there missing shots, how much more do you want? At this point, it’s like an ongoing joke for us in the locker room because you still end up winning games. But it just takes more effort to win, I guess.”
Coach Tyronn Lue remains unconcerned with Smith’s struggles. Smith has focused on trying to grab more rebounds the last couple of games, while Lue still likes the way he is defending.
“Keep shooting. I mean, that’s what he does,” Lue said. “He makes shots, and as a shooter you’re not going to make every shot. Right now he’s in a little bit of a slump, but [Sunday] defensively he was great. … His shots are gonna fall. They’re gonna come, and when they do we’re going to be really tough to stop.”
Love honored
Kevin Love was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 30.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He shot 55 percent from the floor, including 66 percent (19-of-29) from 3-point range, and he went 21-of-21 from the free-throw line while the Cavs went 3-0.
Love led the conference in points, 3-pointers made, free throws, free-throw percentage, 3-point percentage and plus/minus (plus-68). He tied for 10th in rebounding. He joins New Orleans’ Anthony Davis as the only two players averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Love’s honor means the Cavs have taken three of the first five weekly awards in the East after LeBron James won the first two. Golden State’s Kevin Durant won the award in the West for last week.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.