Don’t expect any hugs when Jae Crowder and J.R. Smith first line up opposite one another next season.
Smith’s backhanded slap prematurely ended Crowder’s 2014-15 campaign in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, and while the Boston Celtics forward avoided serious injury on the play, it’s clear he hasn’t fully forgiven the perpetrator.
“I don’t intend to call him, that’s for sure,” Crowder told the Boston Herald. “Nothing like that.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers officially eliminated the Celtics a few hours after Smith’s right hand made contact with Crowder’s face, and Crowder has spend the ensuing weeks rehabbing his sprained knee.
“I obviously would have been very worried if I had torn something, but once I got the results from the MRI it was all fine,” he told the Herald. “I found out all of the information in the same day. Thank God I didn’t tear it. I’m very lucky that it wasn’t worse.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of time on the bike, but I feel like I could play today. But right now, I’m focused on my body.”
Smith, meanwhile, is coming off an underwhelming performance in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. The Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors 95-93 in overtime, but Smith went 5-for-13 from the floor and committed six fouls, including two costly ones down the stretch that nearly gifted a win to the Warriors.
In speaking with reporters after the game, Smith shouldered the blame for his boneheaded plays.
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“Please win this game,” Smith said, via CBSSports.com, when asked what was going to through his mind as he watched the final minutes of overtime from the bench. “I don’t want the phone calls, the emails, Instagrams, tweets, memes. I don’t want none of that right now.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
