Cleveland Cavaliers veteran J.R. Smith, throughout his career, must have heard it all. That’s why when the crowd inside TD Garden was expressing their disdain for Smith in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics, the mercurial shooting guard can only smile.
After the loss, Smith talked about how he felt while hearing the collective jeers from thousands of rowdy fans in Boston, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“I love it. I don’t want the opposing fans to like me. That’s not why I’m here. They can chant and scream all they want, it actually makes me feel better about myself. They know me.”
The play that caught the ire of Beantown fans, and Marcus Smart, happened late in the fourth quarter. Boston had the momentum and Smart intended to lob a pass toward Al Horford. However, Smith fouled Horford while the latter was in mid-air. The Cavs guard was then called for a flagrant one foul.
Here a clip of the play:
All throughout the night, Smith struggled with his shot as he went scoreless on seven attempts from the field. After breaking out in the series sweep of the Toronto Raptors, Smith has seemingly returned to the shell where camped out in the first round against the Indiana Pacers.
While he admits to loving the antagonist role, he’ll have to embrace the crowd’s cheer this time as the series shifts to Cleveland for Games 3 and 4.