Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 9:00 am  |  59 responses

Did J.R. Smith Show Up the Kings?

by Marcel Mutoni

Smith torched the woeful Sacramento Kings last night, setting a new club record by dropping in 11 three-pointers, on his way to 45 points.

Though J.R. was predictably all smiles following the game, members of the losing team were more than a little steamed. None more so than the ever-proud Bobby Jackson.

More from the Denver Post:

“That’s not being professional,” Kings guard Bobby Jackson said. “At the end of a game, if a guy’s hot, you’re already up by 20, sub him out. Get somebody else in there. You just can’t do things like that. This league is not about that. It’s like they wanted to embarrass us and put on a show. You’ve got to be respectable. You’ve got to respect this game. That’s not respecting the game.”

Tuesday, after a Smith 3-pointer gave Denver a 100-83 advantage with 6:55 left in the fourth, he tried seven more 3-point attempts. He made three, missed two and was fouled on the other two, making all six free throws. One came with 32.9 seconds left and the Nuggets up by 20.

“He played well tonight,” Jackson said. “Why let him continue to do that? If we were a dirty team, we could have taken him out of the game, and going into the playoffs, what are you going to have? Most teams aren’t going to let you do that to them. At the end of the day, he’s going to shoot the ball every time he gets it. I think it’s upon the coach to take him out the game. He’s already at 30 points. There was no way we were going to come back.”

There’s no doubt that Smith was gunning for the team record, something he probably should’ve given a rest with his team already up by 20 with under a minute remaining.

With the postseason a few days away, the Nuggets should be thankful that nothing erupted between the two teams as a result of Smith’s onslaught.

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  • Monsta

    why is it considered to be “not classy” if a guy wants to continue playing his best, regardless of the score? If the kings cant stop him, thats their own fault. but come on, dont be sore losers

  • http://karanmadhok.blogspot.com karan

    i disagree with what bobby jackson said, i don’t feel like there is anything wrong with teams keeping their best/hot players in the game until the game finishes. This is a professional game, so how is it professional to stop playing “hard” just because you’re winning big. i think its the losing team’s responsibility to earn some respect for themselves by playing hard too. Kings should’ve figured out how to stop him instead of complaining about him staying in.

  • Tommy Vercetti

    I don’t think J.R. did anything wrong. If the kid is hot and he wants to keep shooting let him shoot. It’s not his fault the Kings suck and can’t stop his hot hand. Show no mercy on the court. I can bet if it was a more popular or beloved player we wouldn’t have even heard any complaints.

  • lakers4life

    too much killer instinct

  • http://www.for-sports-sake.blogspot.com/ Faz

    When a record breaking performance is possible, nothing else should matter. I think its cool they kept giving him more opportunities. It was his time to shine and his team were cool to let the kid do his thing! Bobby needs to stop being a sore loser. He probably hasn’t had a beating like that since he lived at home with parents.

  • Tuomas

    Umm, Ciol, one question: you really think a lesser “star” trying to go one on one against Kobe takes away from the Lakers’ team concept – and not the other way around? And consistently, no less?

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  • Danny W

    I’m a huge Kings fan, and have been for many years. Had I been sat at the Arco Arena this season the only highlights you’re gonna get is from an opposing team. If JR Smith sets a team record, I’d have been glad to have seen it. If you want a disrespectful way of treating the game, just look at how Reggie Theus was treated, I know the record was awful, but if you had Phil Jackson, with Jerry Sloan as his assistant they’d still have sucked.

  • nastierthanyou

    Gunners Gun

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