As any athlete will say, confidence is a major factor in their performance.
Until recently, Nuggets guard J.R. Smith’s confidence was running hot-and-cold.
This morning, Smith admitted he’s had to keep belief in himself in order to ride out inconsistent minutes and changing roles from quarter to quarter and night to night early this season. Keeping a cool head paid off on the Nuggets’ recent trip to Texas, where they split a win at Dallas with a loss at Houston.
But maybe more important going forward is Smith gradually finding his game. He averaged 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals in those two games while shooting 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field, including 36 percent (4-of-11) from 3-point range.
Asked what changed, Smith said, “Just staying confident in myself. Getting easy buckets early and just going from there. It’s more self-confidence than anything. As long as I believe in myself, then anything can happen. Then, obviously, if you score points early, it helps you get in a rhythm.”
He scored them early and often in the past two games. In fact, Smith has hit double-figure scoring in eight of his past 10 games, averaging 16.2 points during that span, which is three points over his 13.1 average for the season.
Smith said his confidence was “not so much low. It was just really random as to when I was going to get in and what position of scoring I was going to be in, or playmaking. It wasn’t really as comfortable as it was last year.”
And now?
“It’s gotten a whole lot better,” he said.
Footnote. Kenyon Martin said his wrist continues to hurt him, but he expects to play Friday night against Cleveland. “It’s painful,” Martin said. “I don’t like to sit down, so just got to fight through it.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
