INDIANAPOLIS — J.R. Smith needed not only to find his jump shot last night but a flu shot.
The soap opera surrounding the embattled Smith took another turn as he missed yesterday’s morning shootaround at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a 102-degree fever and his status wasn’t certain until one hour before tip-off when he elected to play.
He started to show signs of life in the second half, but finished 4-for-12 for nine points in the Knicks’ 82-71 loss to the Pacers. He’s now in a 19-for-69 funk in the past five games.
Afterward, a nasal-sounding Smith said it was a virus and he started feeling chills Friday night, waking up in the middle of the night “freezing.’’
When Smith walked into the arena last night, Mike Woodson called him “a game-time decision.’’ Smith took 15 minutes of warm-ups, watched closely by Knicks medical director Lisa Callahan. He looked drawn but made most of his jumpers. He headed to the locker room and told assistant coach Jim Todd he was ready to go, huddling in the trainer’s room with a computer to go over the game plan.
“I was kind of winded early,’’ Smith said. “Woody did a great job of pacing my minutes.”
The illness drama allowed fans to assume the worst. The image of the Sixth Man Award winner as an indulger in nightlife has not faded. Woodson and Carmelo Anthony portrayed a player who appears mentally fragile.
“I like to think J.R. is a tough kid,’’ Woodson said. “You got to have thick skin. Playing in New York, you got to have thick skin. If he’s going to get through it and help us, he’s got to block out things and start playing J.R. basketball.
“When someone’s struggling, it’s my job to help him get through it.”
After a tweet suggested he was at the 40/40 Club late last Saturday night before the Game 1 Sunday matinee, Smith tweeted he was “not clubbing’’ and that fans should stop looking for reasons for his shooting slump. Another report alleged he was hanging out with Rihanna at a club after Game 2 on Tuesday. Smith has not posted on Twitter since May 6.
Smith said earlier this season he changed his lifestyle and wasn’t going out as much.
“I think with J.R., and especially this situation that’s being said about him, it can easily build up and become very stressful and strenuous on one person,’’ said Anthony, who played with Smith in Denver. “For me, who’s been there with him since he came into the NBA, especially now I try to just give him positive energy.”