Don’t Count These Cavs Out

Smith is in a great place right now. He’s playing some of the best basketball of his career and has seemed to have grown up a great deal. Sure, he still makes some questionable decisions on the floor, but Smith has become a reliable scoring threat that, though not an elite defender, can hold his own on the defensive end.

Smith has become a reliable scorer in Lue’s offense. Since Lue took over Smith is averaging 15.8 points per game while hitting almost four 3-pointers per contest. He is also grabbing 3.7 rebounds per outing.

Smith loves playing up-tempo.

“It gives me a chance to get my legs fresh out the box and get them going a little bit,” he said of the Cavaliers’ running game. “When we play up and down, like we’re playing, it gives teams a lot of chances to lose me in transition. I love it.”

Lue knows what a reliable outside shooter can mean to a team that likes to run and scramble. He played with Gilbert Arenas in Washington and saw what floor space can mean to a shooter. Lue also learned the triangle offense at the knee of Michael Jordan and Johnny Bach…the man responsible for the Chicago Bulls offense during the Jordan era.

Lue began his playing career with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. He not only knows how important the star players are to a franchise…he knows how critical the rest of the roster is as well.

Lue is the perfect coach to bring out the best in J.R. Smith.

“I’ve never been given so much freedom to just go out there and play my game, shoot when I’m open and try to make a play when I’m not,” Smith said after the Cavs’ 120-100 win over the Kings Monday night. “It’s pretty simple basketball for me.”

Another thing to consider about Smith…there have been times, this season, when it looked like he was the only Cavalier playing with any pride. In the Golden State game he was visibly upset with the Warriors’ clowning on the floor. He didn’t like Steph Curry’s shimmying on the floor, and let Golden State know that, unlike his teammates, he refused to get punked.

He blew through a Harrison Barnes pick and was whistled for a Flagrant 2. It was a bad call but, in the big picture, the call didn’t matter. Smith sent a message, that he was more than willing to mix it up if things went that way.

I was sitting in the press section at Quicken Loans Arena during the Golden State game. In the second quarter the radio producer sitting next to me hit the nail on the head…

“J.R. is the only one out there playing with some dawg in him,” this producer said. And he was right.

Smith is the kind of player that can get hot and carry an offense. He’s also the kind of player that will do the dirty work and stand up for his teammates…and himself (Ask Jae Crowder).

The Cavaliers have some big statement games coming up after the All-Star break, starting with a home game against the Bulls and, three nights later, a road contest at Oklahoma City. If they can take care of business in those two games a team that was left for dead in the wake of the Golden State loss suddenly has plenty of life.

Will the Cavaliers win this season’s NBA title? Not sure…but I wouldn’t bet against it.

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