Cavs' J.R. Smith expects 'dirty plays' from Celtics as series progresses
After the Cavaliers took a 1-0 series lead against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, J.R. Smith forecast “dirty plays” and “cheap shots” coming from Boston players.
When asked what he expects from the C’s in Game 2, Smith told reporters after the game, “For them to come out swinging, playing scrappy like they do. They’ve been playing like that all year. Whenever their backs are up against the wall, they tend to play better, just like we do. So we just got to expect that and understand there might be dirty plays, might be cheap shots coming from the other side just because they are fighting for their lives at this point."
MORE NBA
Signs of fiery, trash-talking play were already on display in Game 1 when Boston’s Marcus Smart and Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson got in each other’s faces for a double foul.
And Smith has merit in anticipating a Pistons Bad Boys-esque ferociousness, considering the history between the teams. During the 2015 playoffs, Celtics big man Kelly Olynyk injured Kevin Love by pulling on his shoulder; the injury caused Love to miss the rest of the playoffs, and the Cavs came up short to the Warriors in the Finals.
Smith’s comments also come with a twist of irony, considering he was the culprit of a dirty play in the ’15 series against the Celtics as well, getting ejected for smacking Jae Crowder in the face. Smith’s flagrant foul caused Crowder to sprain his left ACL, and Smith was reluctant to apologize right away, saying at the time, “he can hold his breath” in waiting for an apology. Smith claimed it was unintentional and the result of a “chippy” series.