JR Smith has been on fire during the Playoffs, averaging 4.7 threes on a blistering 52.8 shooting from outside.
Known as one of the streakiest shooters in the game, Smith perpetuates the perception by taking (and making) a lot of contested jumpers. By most metrics, contested shots are bad shots.
JR, however, likes when he has a defender in his grill when he’s shooting. Open shots, after all, are “kind of boring.”
From ESPN:
“Guys are always looking at me like: ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’ This is my shot,” said Smith. “Regardless of how funny it may look to you, I feel as if I can make it when I get that opportunity.”
Last year in the Eastern Conference finals, Smith had a game against the Hawks in which he made eight 3-pointers — five of them contested. Afterward, he said what not only sums up his game, but his trouble-filled, shot-slinging career.
“I’d rather take a contested shot than an open shot any day,” Smith said. “It’s kind of boring when you take open shots.”