New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith checked into Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter. Sixty seconds later, the struggling Sixth Man of the Year took his first shot of the night, a 27-foot 3-pointer. As has been the case with most of his other shots in this series — and, really, since he elbowed Jason Terry in the chin — he missed.
Moments later, this appeared on Twitter:
Yes.
— Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 14, 2013
And a new meme was born.
Eight minutes later:
Yes. — Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 14, 2013
Five minutes after that:
.Yes
— Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 14, 2013
Just after the start of the second quarter:
Yep. — Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 14, 2013
And, giving credit where it's due, a minute afterward, when Smith knocked down his first jumper of the evening:
No!
— Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 14, 2013
And so it went.
Unfortunately for Knicks fans, there were far more of the former style than the latter throughout yet another poor shooting performance for both Smith and the Knicks as a whole (31 for 87 from the floor, 35.6 percent). The result? A 93-82 loss that gives the Pacers a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks will now need to win three straight games, beginning with Thursday night's Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, if they hope to stave off elimination and advance. To do so, they will need to overcome a Pacers squad that never trailed, once again dominated the boards (54-36, with 16 coming on the offensive glass) and got several strong performances — most notably, guard George Hill's 26 points on 9 for 14 shooting — to take firm control of the series.
How'd J.R. finish up?
Recap: yes, yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, no. — Did JR Smith Miss? (@DidJRSmithMiss) May 15, 2013
That works out to 19 points on 7 for 22 from the floor, though 12 came on 5 for 10 shooting in an all-over-but-the-shoutin' fourth quarter. Better than he's been, but not nearly good enough for the Knicks.
One last stat: The account's first tweet came at 7:18 p.m. EDT Tuesday. As of 9:48 p.m. EDT, it had 1,981 followers. Who says all the good social media ideas are taken?
And one last tweet, this one coming from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News:
J.R. Smith: "I take the blame for this whole series."
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) May 15, 2013
We appreciate your candor, J.R. There are already plenty of Knicks fans doing that, so at least you won't feel alone.
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