INDIANAPOLIS — After it ended, J.R. Smith said he looked at his Knicks jersey and thought about how he doesn’t want to leave New York.
“I want to retire a Knick,” said Smith, who can opt out of his contract this offseason, in the aftermath of the Knicks’ season-ending 106-99 Game 6 defeat. “I don’t want to go anywhere else.”
As it was last postseason against Miami, when Smith ended his campaign with a miserable playoff series that cast doubt about his future with the Knicks, Smith did the same last night. Smith began the night 1-for-7 from the field and finished a brutal 4-for-15 en route to 15 points.
Smith had an atrocious Pacers series. When the Knicks were down 3-1, he said, “I take the blame for this whole series.” Smith finished the series shooting a woeful 26-for-90 (29 percent). Counting his last two games against the Celtics, he ended his playoffs in a 34-for-117 (29 percent) shooting slump.
“They tried to rely on me, and I didn’t step up,” Smith said. “Regardless of what that says about me or my game, that won’t happen again.”
Smith, a New Jersey native, averaged a career-high 18.1 points in the regular season, developing into the Knicks’ second scorer behind Carmelo Anthony and earning him the Sixth Man Award honors. In a silent postgame locker room last night, Smith walked over to Anthony’s locker and clasped hands with him.
Smith hit a huge 3 to tie the game at 72-72 in the third quarter, capping the Knicks’ stunning 12-2 game-changing surge. Other than that big bucket and 10 rebounds, his shot was simply too erratic.
“Unsatisfied,” he said of his emotions. “I hate losing more than I like winning.”
After professing his desire to stay in New York, Smith said he had not considered whether he would give the Knicks a discount in free agency.
“I haven’t even thought about all that,” he said. “I’ve still got to talk to Leon [Rose, agent] and see where we’re at.”