J.R. Smith, who rained 3s in November, is 1-for-December.
The Nuggets guard has made one 3-pointer in the four games this month, missing 15 attempts.
Smith has played some stellar games this season, but lately, his coach said, Smith’s focus has been fleeting.
“The thing that was driving me crazy was his decisions,” coach George Karl said Monday after practice. “Fouling with five seconds to go in the half. Childish, immature decisions. J.R. is still a young player, so inconsistency is probably part of his personality.”
Smith, 22, is playing with an injured thumb on his shooting hand, which he says remains bothersome. But Smith also said the lingering pain was there in November, when he had outings such as the 6-for-9 3-point effort Nov. 30 against the Clippers.
With a 38.2 3-point percentage, Smith is second among Denver regulars, trailing reserve forward Eduardo Najera (40 percent). Smith’s percentage is 46th in the league, while his 89 3-point attempts are 27th and his 34 made are 24th.
Melo not being Melo.
Against Sacramento on Saturday, Denver forward Carmelo Anthony had his second-worst scoring effort of the season with 14 points (5-for-16 shooting). Karl said the Kings’ zone affected Anthony. The previous game, he scored 23 points at Dallas on 9-for-30 shooting.
“It’s a good time for me not to be shooting as well as I normally shoot,” said Anthony, in reference to the two games the Nuggets won. “It’s not like (Smith and I) are taking unorthodox shots. As long as I’m in here working on my shot, I don’t have any reason to worry about it.”
Anthony is seventh in the NBA at 24.7 points per game.
Footnotes.
Najera suffered a left knee contusion Saturday and sat out practice Monday, but he likely will play Wednesday against New Orleans at the Pepsi Center. Forward Kenyon Martin also sat out Monday’s practice, solely for precautionary reasons. Martin, who returned this season from knee surgery, played a season-high 38 minutes Saturday. Karl said he thinks point guard Chucky Atkins (groin) will return closer to the end of December. Karl was satisfied with his team’s effort at Monday’s practice. “We revamped and re-educated our zone offense,” he said, “and we worked a lot on pick-and-roll, because we have (the Hornets’) Chris Paul and (the Spurs’) Tony Parker this week.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
