J.R. Smith is currently rehabbing from a broken right thumb, and he has missed the Cavaliers’ past 34 games, but that hasn’t kept him from being actively involved in his team—and it won’t stop him from standing up for his teammates when he feels they’ve been disrespected.
On Saturday night, Smith was held back by security and escorted off the court by Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue after he engaged in a shouting match with several Miami Heat players. Miami took the game 120-92, and Smith was peeved by the actions of Miami’s Rodney McGruder.
With 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Heat firmly in command, McGruder slammed home a putback dunk over the Cavaliers’ Channing Frye and then celebrated the dunk with a fist pump that may have been an attempt to shove Frye in the lower back.
Was it actually an attempted push? Hard to tell. Check the video out below.
On the ensuing Miami possession, Smith, seated on the bench, began a verbal battle with McGruder, who was standing near Cleveland’s sidelines. Then, after the game, former Cleveland guard Dion Waiters approached Cleveland’s bench and started yelling and pointing at Smith.
Heat security and Cavs center Tristan Thompson tried to reason with Waiters. Meanwhile, team officials quickly escorted Smith to the Cavs’ locker room.
"We got J.R. off the floor," Lue said after the game, according to ESPN. "He's fiery. He's feisty. He's ready to get back on the floor. It happens throughout the course of a game. It's nothing, though."
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra defended McGruder’s putback dunk and said there was no malice behind it.
"If anybody knows Rodney, he's just out there competing," Spoelstra said. "He's going to compete every possession. He's not trying to show up anybody."
The teams will play again Monday.
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