” Dennis Smith’s input was amazing! ” Chauncey Billups does well to get excited about his replacement point guard, who contributed a lot to the last surprise victory of the young Blazers against the Lakers, who nevertheless relied on their two best players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
” It’s just extra motivation for you to play, especially when you have LeBron and AD in front “, remarks the coach of the Blazers, whose workforce has been largely turned upside down in recent days. If Anfernee Simons shone the most offensively with his 29 points, Dennis Smith Jr. shone in other areas of play.
In defense first since he stole several balls directly into the hands of LeBron James, or cut off a pass in the direction of the “King”.
” I was given a lot of room to maneuver defensively to put pressure on the ball carrier and take risks“, details the 24-year-old player. Defensive bets well rewarded since he stole no less than six balloons! With him, the Blazers set a new record in the matter this season (15) and caused a total of 21 lost balls from the Lakers, including 6 for LeBron James and Malik Monk.
Intercept to run counter-attack
” I was able to make a difference on a few actions and put us in a position to score easily in transition “, Continues the 9th choice of the Draft 2017, in reference to the 28 points in counter-attack of his team, against only 4 to the Lakers.
The leader, author of 7 points (3/5) and especially 11 assists, shone on fast play with in particular a nice pass in the back for Trendon Watford. On the previous sequence, after having already stolen the leather from the superstar opposite, he had sent a lobed pass that was much too high towards Greg Brown III. ” He has an interest (laughs)”!, when asked if he felt his teammate could catch that pass. “It cost me a lost ball! I lost three, it’s already too much. He’s super athletic, we expect him to pick her up.“
More seriously, the former Mavs prospect says he appreciates this victory, ” especially against the team we were playing against. There was a lot of yellow and purple in the room tonight. They had a lot of fans, which we expected, and we did what we were supposed to do. We deserved to win tonight.“
Portland erased a series of six straight losses. With his best game of the season in passing and interceptions, Dennis Smith Jr, who arrived on tiptoe at the start of the season, reminded Chauncey Billups that he could be useful off the bench.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBEHU-T4nRc
| Dennis Smith | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2017-18 | DAL | 69 | 30 | 39.5 | 31.3 | 69.4 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 15.2 |
| 2018-19 * | All Teams | 53 | 29 | 42.8 | 32.2 | 63.5 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 13.6 |
| 2018-19 * | DAL | 32 | 28 | 44.0 | 34.4 | 69.5 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 4.3 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 12.9 |
| 2018-19 * | NYK | 21 | 29 | 41.3 | 28.9 | 56.8 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 5.4 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 14.7 |
| 2019-20 | NYK | 34 | 16 | 34.1 | 29.6 | 50.9 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 5.5 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 23 | 18 | 40.0 | 32.8 | 73.1 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 6.7 |
| 2020-21 * | TED | 20 | 20 | 41.5 | 35.2 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 7.3 |
| 2020-21 * | NYK | 3 | 9 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 83.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 3.0 |
| 2021-22 | ORP | 36 | 17 | 41.3 | 22.2 | 65.1 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 5.5 |
| Total | 215 | 24 | 40.1 | 31.2 | 65.2 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 10.7 | |
