Victor Cruz watched the Knicks game against the Bobcats on Tuesday night and saw his pal, J.R. Smith, drill a game-winning, buzzer-beating jumper. He also saw Smith do a celebratory salsa.
“It was a complete surprise,” Cruz said. “Funny thing was, I was actually watching the game and then when he hit it, I almost jumped off the couch. And then when he was coming off the court and I saw him do the salsa, I was like, ‘Oh man.’ ”
Cruz texted his friend, saying, “You didn’t have to salsa on ’em like that. LOL.” He said Smith proceeded to call him back.
“He called me up and was like, ‘Man, I had to. Did you approve?’
“Stuff like that,” Cruz said. “It was cool.”
Cruz and Smith are both New Jersey natives who have known each other since they were younger. Cruz’s opinion of Smith’s salsa, however? So-so.
“We’ve got to go to the drawing board a little bit,” he said. “It was a little stiff at the end, but we’ll get that squared away.”
* Special teams coordinator Tom Quinn said if receiver Domenik Hixon, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, is able to play Sunday, he’ll return to play special teams.
Quinn indicated Hixon could replace David Wilson on kick returns or possibly Rueben Randle on punt returns.
* LB Jacquian Williams (knee) practiced on a limited basis and according to coach Tom Coughlin, has a good shot to play this week. Williams has missed the last six games. … S Kenny Phillips (knee), WR Hakeem Nicks (knee), RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), S Tyler Sash (hamstring) and TE Travis Beckum (knee) did not practice.
* Coughlin praised Wilson, who ran four times for 9 yards against the Redskins in replacing the injured Andre Brown as Bradshaw’s backup running back.
“He ran hard and he showed that he can go in there and play, there’s no question about that,” Coughlin said. “He has learned. He has developed. We need that.”
* Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell on last year’s game against the Saints, which saw New Orleans score 49 points: “I wanted to forget about that game because they kicked the [bleep] out of us.”
* Osi Umenyiora isn’t prepared to stop praising opposing players before the Giants face them, if he thinks they merit it. Earlier this week on WFAN, Antrel Rolle suggested that wasn’t a good strategy, believing it would curb the Giants’ mental edge.
“That’s Antrel’s opinion,” Umenyiora said. “He’s one of our leaders. He’s one of the very good players we have on this team, so he’s entitled to that. But at the end of the day, if a guy is a good player, I’m going to call him a good player, period, and that’s just the way it is.”