NBA

Knicks’ J.R. shoots blanks in return from suspension

WHAT DID I DO? J.R. Smith reacts after a foul call in the fourth quarter of last night’s 92-86 Knicks loss to the Celtics at the Garden. (
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J.R. Smith stood at his locker, dressed in black, from head to toe.

“We were going to a funeral,” Smith said, “but it looked like we got buried.”

It is the wrong time and the wrong place against the wrong team and town to talk about funerals, of course, on a night the Garden was certain it would party like it was 1999, the last time it hosted a playoff series victory. It was Smith who missed his first 10 shots, on a night when Carmelo Anthony either was watching the offense or missing 16 of 24 shots, which makes him 18-for-his-last-59.

And when Game 5 ended Celtics 92, Knicks 86, it ended with more Melodrama, more childish banter between the Honey Nut Cheerio boys on both sides, and it ended with Smith, facing the music like a man, finally getting it right, unabashedly telling the world:

Blame me.

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Someone asked Smith if he feels as if he has lost the last two games, two losses that make the good people of Boston believe their Celtics can write the same Beantown miracle story their Red Sox did in 2004 against the Yankees, this one so soon after the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy.

“Yeah, without a doubt,” he said. “I mean, from the absence of Game 4 — we were in a great rhythm playing … pretty much going into the last 20 games of the season, including the first three playoff games, and then come out today, stink it up with two huge turnovers, miss a lot of shots, bad defense on my part. I can’t have a game like this. I can’t have another one like this.”

So much was made of how much the Knicks missed him in Game 4 when he served his one-game suspension for that flagrant elbow on Jason Terry. Smith was certain the Knicks would have swept the Celtics into next season had he played.

“I was extremely anxious,” Smith said. “Coming into the game, when all the fans really got hyped, I really couldn’t wait to play… just got excited, just got to stay patient, stay humble, and get ready for the next one.”

Wait until the Celtics fans starts showering him with boos.

“Honestly, I don’t really care, I want to get a W,” Smith said. “If they come out there and boo me every time I touch the ball or whatever happens, I got to stay focused on my team and we got to come out with a W. You can’t just keep letting teams do what they want to do.”

To close out the Celtics, the Knicks needed him to be the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.

He was Instant Offensive instead.

J.R. on this night stood for Just Rotten. Or, if you prefer, Just Ridiculous. Or Just Revolting.

He was asked what happened to his shot. “If I knew, I would have had a better night,” Smith said. “Just got to get back in the gym, keep shooting, get ready for Game 6.”

And you can rest assured he will keep shooting.

The danger, of course, is he will be John Starks in Game 6 of the 1994 NBA Finals in Houston.

“If I miss five or six shots in a row, that seventh, eighth shot to me is going up regardless,” Smith said. “I’m a streaky shooter, I know if I hit one or two I get in my rhythm. That’s the way my teammates want me to play, so that’s the way I’m going to continue to play.”

With 2:49 left, Smith drilled a left wing 3.

Too little, too late.

With 1:05 left, Smith (14 points) hit another left wing 3 that brought the Knicks to within 88-83.

Too little, too late.

With 1.5 seconds, he hit a right wing 3.

Too little, too late.

He finished 3-for-14, 3-for-8 from downtown.

This is what happens when you become complacent, when you do not go for the jugular and finish off a wounded opponent: that 3-0 series lead suddenly becomes a 3-2 series lead and is in mortal danger of coming back to the Garden for a Game 7 with all swag and momentum belonging to the other guys.

The Celtics played as if they had nothing to lose, and Doc Rivers showed why he is an elite coach when he played the Terrence Williams card to perfection. Smith played as if he was afraid the ghost of Bill Russell would show up and alter his shot.

“I’m done with this black stuff, man,” Smith said. “I’m a superstitious person. I’m going back to my old routine.” Thankfully.