J.R. Smith had quite a night Tuesday, as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ conscienceless gunner broke out of a funk in a big way, notching a season-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, which includes five 3-pointers, to help the Cavs get a 124-119 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Apart from Smith ending a shooting slump that saw him shoot just 33.3 percent in the previous three games, the 13-year veteran also climbed up the NBA’s all-time 3-pointer made list, displacing Rashard Lewis as 14th in league history in buried threes.
For the record, J.R. Smith now has 1,790 career triples and he could surpass Dallas Mavericks superstar forward Dirk Nowitzki (1,795) for 13th all-time by draining six more 3-pointers.
The Cavs’ mercurial shooting guard can match or pass Nowitzki this Thursday when Cleveland goes up against the Houston Rockets, who don’t really give too much effort on defense, as they are allowing 11.3 makes from downtown per game to opponents this season.
