NBA

J.R. who? Pierce mocks Knicks’ Smith

Paul Pierce isn’t worried about J.R. Smith.

“Who?” Pierce said when asked Thursday afternoon about Smith, a frequent participant in Knicks-Nets jawboning this offseason.

When Smith’s name was repeated, Pierce made his point clear.

“Who?” he repeated before heading into new Nets teammate Deron Williams’ charity dodgeball tournament, which was held at Basketball City on the Lower East Side. “Who are we talking about right now? Exactly.”

Smith made headlines earlier this month when he told ESPN New York that Pierce will have to “pay for” his words earlier this summer. Pierce had talked up the burgeoning rivalry between the Knicks and Nets, saying the Nets would eventually own New York.

“I just look at him as a bitter person just getting out of Boston,” Smith said. “He doesn’t really know what New York is all about. He’s been playing in Boston his whole career.

“He just knows, just know that his words have consequences and he’s going to have to pay for them.”

Smith and the Nets’ imports from Boston have history. In the first-round playoff series between the Knicks and Celtics last season, Smith was ejected from Game 3 and suspended for Game 4 for delivering an elbow to the head of Jason Terry, another Nets acquisition. Smith and Terry, as well as Raymond Felton, have exchanged in some friendly sparring through the media this summer, fueling what is quickly turning into one of the more entertaining and hotly contested rivalries in the league.