By Chris Sheridan
Senior Sports Gambling Writer
“I was channelling J.R. Smith.”
We have all said it, heard it, tweeted it, memed it, Gif’d it and you name’d it dozens or hundreds of times since Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals concluded Thursday night with epic failures by George Hill (hey, you nervous?), Tyronn Lue (dude, just run on the court and tackle a referee if that’s what it takes to call your final timeout), and J.R. Smith (which guy has changed his story more, J.R. or Bryan Colangelo?)
And as we get ready for tipoff of tonight’s Game 2 with the Warriors a 12 1/2-point favorite, all eyes will be on Smith to a greater degree than usual despite the presence of a few guys you may have already heard of, namely LeBron James (coming off a career postseason-high 51 points), Kevin Durant (whose one 3-pointer on seven attempts was one less than the aforementioned Mr. Smith made) and Steph Curry (whose nine assists helped the Dubs to a 31-18 advantage in that all-important category).
The editors at ESPN.com allowed Zach Lowe to use the term “brain fart” in his outstanding post-mortem of Game 1, and while I personally prefer the euphemism “cranial flatulence,” it’s probably safe to say that “mental meltdown” is probably the most non-offensive term we can use as we continue to put Game 1 in our collective rear-view mirror, recover from watching Tiger Woods on TV (just like J.R. did Saturday) and do our prep work for Game 2 tonight at 8 p.m. EDT.
My partners at BetDSI in Costa Rica have posted four different J.R. Smith prop bets for tonight’s tilt.
_ The over/under on field goal percentage is .300. It should be noted that J.R. has posted shooting lines of 0-for-7 and 0-for-8 during this postseason, although he also had a 6-for-6 effort in Game 4 of the sweep of the Raptors. Smith is shooting.353 during the postseason, and his sub-.500 efforts have a 15-4 lead over his above. 500 efforts. During the regular season he shot .403.
_ The over/under on Smith’s turnovers is 1.5, and it is important to note that brain farts are not counted among official NBA statistics — although some enterprising young journalist could start a Website called www.nbabrainfarts.com and make a fortune. Smith’s season-high for turovers was a mere 3 (accomplished four times), and in 19 playoff games this postseason he has posted zeroes in the turnover column 8 times.
_ The over/under on Smith’s minutes is 35 1/2. He is averaging 32.4 minutes per game in the postseason, which is because he is so much more of an intelligent player than Jose Calderon (nine DNP-CDs), whose NBA career 3-point field goal percentage is .459 when he is not gathering cobwebs. Smith has been over 35.5 minutes only four times in 19 postseason games this spring, but his minutes totals from the past three playoff games have been 39, 42 and 38. (Quite similar to Tiger Woods’ front- and/or back-nine scores over the past decade or so until this recent resurgence.)
_ The over/under on J.R. Smith’s total points is 9 1/2, which is an easy cover if the Cavs are down 20 early in the fourth — because that is prime time for hot J.R. to get his groove on. Smith is averaging 8.6 ppg in this year’s playoffs, and his career postseason average is 11.4 in 127 games (16 of those playoff games were played for the New York Knicks, which somehow is a true statement). He has scored in double figures in 9 of 19 postseason games in April and May of this year.
Click on the banner below to place a wager on any of those props, or the over/under of 206, or the money line: Cavs +600; Warriors -900.
Enjoy the game tonight, and keep it fun and safe. My pick for Game 1 was the Cavs on the MoneyLine at +650. Tonight, it is a wagering holiday for me. Just gonna sit back and soak it all in. My only hope is that this one is as memorable as the last one.
Prop bets on J.R. Smith of the Cleveland VCavaliers for Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals
