To J.R. Smith, it doesn’t matter if he is 12-of-12, zero-for-a-billion or if somebody else is shooting lights out. Smith is a shooter and regardless, he would like the last shot.
Always.
And he launched the last shot in the Knicks’ crushing 90-89 defeat against the Wizards at the Garden Friday night, though the shot he took was probably the last shot he wanted to attempt.
Smith, who already had amassed a season-high 32 points, scrambled and came up with the ball after Carmelo Anthony lost the handle and he fired from 25 feet with 2.2 seconds left, When the ball sailed and hit the left front of the rim and bounded away, it very well may have taken the Knicks’ playoffs hopes with it.
“I saw he [Anthony] went left and tried to pull up but the ball slipped out of his hands or he got fouled. I don’t really know. I just tried to run and get the ball,” said Smith whose 12-of-23 shooting — including 8-of-16 on 3-pointers — ultimately became an impressive footnote.
“I didn’t realize how much time we had left exactly when I caught it so I was just trying to get the ball up. I caught it at the end with like two seconds left,” Smith said. “I should have dumped it down to Stat [Amar’e Stoudemire] for an easy layup but I didn’t see him until after.”
Well, there was a lot going on at the time. And it’s not like Smith had time to collect his thoughts — along with the ball — and survey the Garden landscape. So he got the last shot like he always wants, but it was not the shot he wanted.
“No matter who has it going, I always want the last shot,” Smith said. “It’s something I’ve never been shy about, shooting. It’s what I do. So whoever’s got it going or whatever the case is, I always want the last shot.”
In this game, the Knicks needed Smith. Anthony was bothered by a sore shoulder and committed a season-high nine turnovers.
“Somebody else has to take over the offense [when Anthony is hurting] and I think J.R. did that tonight,” said teammate Raymond Felton.
Despite the final heave, the shot Smith may regret most came with 2:20 left and the Knicks up one. Smith missed from 21 feet and the Wizards had a run-out with Bradley Beal breaking away after taking a pass from rebounder John Wall. Beal dunked. And, drastically for the Knicks, Smith fouled. The three-point play left Washington up, 86-84.
“I was just trying to get in his way,” said Smith who has been huge offensively in the Knicks recent surge. “At worst, foul him and make him earn two. Just trying to make it hard for him. He was getting a lot of easy stuff. Just tried to put pressure on him.”
But like the last shot, it just didn’t work out.