As Phil Jackson discussed everything just short of his favorite recipe for key lime pie Thursday, the conversation turned to suggestions the Knicks could be dangerous in the playoffs. Jackson agreed. And the first reason that tumbled from his mouth was J.R. Smith.
Oh, there were other names and reasons, but the first was Smith.
“Well, with J.R. playing at the level he’s playing at now, yes,” Jackson said.
That would be the same J.R. Smith who started the season serving an NBA suspension and recovering from offseason knee surgery; who was fined by the league for untying opponents’ shoelaces; who nearly drove coach Mike Woodson nuts; whose tweets after the waiving of his brother were as well-received by the franchise as plague. Yeah, that J.R. Smith.
Jackson noted how Smith and Amar’e Stoudemire provide the Knicks with more options on offense than just Carmelo Anthony. Because of that, he said, “we’ll give teams trouble.”
Smith has been terrific in the Knicks’ late-season playoffs drive which resumes Friday against the Wizards at the Garden. The Knicks (33-43) are percentage points — .434 to .432 — ahead of the Hawks (32-42), who still hold a one-game edge in the loss column in the race for the eighth Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Credit a 12-3 surge starting March 5 with a 118-106 victory in Minnesota for making the Knicks relevant again. And credit Smith as much as anyone for making the surge possible.
In those 15 games, Smith has averaged 16.2 points, bringing him 69 points shy of the fifth 1,000-point season of his 10-season career. In the critical 15-game span, he shot 47.2 (91-of-193). Smith says it has started the other way, on defense, and the defense has started with teammates’ in-game talking.
“The communication, everybody has been talking on the defensive end,” Smith said. “I’ve been trying to do it myself, trying to keep guys into that mode. Just have guys not worry about the offense. We’re going to score.
“Everybody knows [Anthony] is going to score the majority of the points. We’ve got to fit in when we get in, and everything else will fall into place on its own. My biggest thing for this team is our communication on defense.That’s how we stay focused, that’s how we stay into it, we stay mentally prepared,” Smith said.
The next step is to complete a journey to the playoffs that once was deemed fantasy.
“I don’t think you can stop believing. Especially when you’re a player or a coach and you’re in this organization, in whatever position you’re in,” Smith said. “If you don’t believe, you might as well be moved and go someplace else.”
Far cry from the guy Woodson insisted had to grow up earlier this year.
“From a coach’s standpoint, I’ve probably been on J.R. as hard as anybody that’s probably ever coached him because I saw something there that maybe the other coaches didn’t see,” Mike Woodson said Thursday on his weekly ESPN Radio spot. “It’s been a work in progress with J.R. and probably will continue to be, but he’s in a good place.”
So are the Knicks.