The 2012/13 Sixth Man of The Year Award has been a bit of a two horse race for the majority of the season. Jamal Crawford made a fantastic case to take out the honor, having had a career year playing alongside Chris Paul and Blake Griffin at the Los Angeles Clippers, however it was New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith who voters felt contributed most off the bench for his team during the season. Smith, who has also had a career best year with the Knicks was instrumental in helping the Knicks claim the number two seed in the East behind Miami and has provided serious spark for a team that was looking down the barrel only  a season ago. Smith has always been one of those players that has the ability to be as brilliant as he can be disastrous, but 2012/13 told a different story. While averaging a career best 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, Smith also held his opponents to an average of 12.3ppg while on the floor. His shot selection is something that has always been questionable and hindered his ability to score with fluidity, but he changed that during the course of the season and improved his overall shooting percentage to 47.3% in an average of 30 minutes per game with the Knicks. Going forward it will be interesting to see how Smith progresses, whether he can continue to play at this elite level and where he ends up. Former 6th man James Harden famously left the Thunder for a starting role at Houston before this season started after claiming honors at the end of last season. Will we see something similar in the case of J.R.? It’s hard to tell, but what we do know is that the Knicks have plenty to thank him for considering the success in season 2012/13.

Nick C.

Above: J.R. Smith shot chart 2012/13