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Reading: J.R. Smith Says Matthew Dellavedova Almost Died Guarding Stephen Curry In The NBA Finals
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > J.R. Smith Says Matthew Dellavedova Almost Died Guarding Stephen Curry In The NBA Finals

J.R. Smith Says Matthew Dellavedova Almost Died Guarding Stephen Curry In The NBA Finals

J.R.Smith credited Matthew Dellavedova for playing his heart out against Stephen Curry in the 2015 NBA Finals.

Aaron Abhishek
Apr 14, 2023
3 Min Read
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Credit: Fadeaway World

J.R. Smith shared an interesting story about his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Matthew Dellavedova.

The forward, appearing on The Old Man & The Three podcast relived the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors where Dellavedova pushed it to the max guarding sharpshooter Stephen Curry.

“Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry,” Smith said. “No, literally, almost died. We have footage of this man in the ice tub, like literally to his neck trying to guard this man.” He further added: “By that, Dellavedova by far is one of the greatest people I like of all time. He literally gave everything he had, and there was no excuse.”

"Delly almost died guarding Steph Curry. We have footage of this man in the ice tub like literally to his neck… He could barely talk after, that's how hard he was trying."

J.R. Smith on Matthew Dellavedova in the 2015 NBA Finals

(via @OldManAndThree)pic.twitter.com/Go1ixFZpTZ

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 13, 2023

Despite the Cavaliers’ best efforts, Curry and the Warriors outplayed them in Game 6. The shooter had a whopping series averaging 26.0 points and 6.3 assists.

Smith was also gracious in his praise for Curry, especially when he knew that the guard had the better of Cleveland. And it goes without saying, having one defender on Curry wouldn’t ever work, and Dellavedova found out the hard way.


J.R. Smith’s Latest Documentary Has LeBron James Excited

J.R. Smith’s latest documentary, ‘Redefined’ has his former teammate LeBron James mighty excited, and the latter took to Twitter to express his thoughts. James tweeted out the trailer and captioned his post, “Yessir Swish!!!!”

Yessir Swish!!!! @TheRealJRSmith 👏🏾👏🏾🫡 https://t.co/JqFw8bMD0e

— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 4, 2023

Smith made a career as one of the more reliable role players who was summoned to knock down three’s in crucial moments and the man often employed as a sharpshooter, had a defining moment in 2018 when his error proved costly in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals.

And he shared his thoughts on the incident. “I already knew we had a timeout,” Smith said. 

“I get the rebound and I think it’s five other times in the season we were put in the same situation. The first thing we do, we get the rebound, we call a timeout, get the ball to LeBron, space out, he’s gonna make it work. I did think we were up by one. In this situation, we got the rebound, we called a time out and we got a chance to win. What better chance have we got? But long story short, don’t go that way.”

As far as numbers go, in the 977 games he played in the NBA, he averaged 12.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

All said, Smith will be remembered as one of the better role players teams could have asked for. 

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TAGGED:Stephen Curry
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ByAaron Abhishek
Aaron Abhishek is an NBA columnist for Fadeaway World. He graduated from St. Joseph's College with a Bachelor's in Visual Communication and a Master's in journalism.His passion for the sport began when he saw Michael Jordan take his final shot in the NBA, and he considers himself fortunate to have been a part of the Kobe Bryant era. Now he writes basketball news and analysis while waiting for the Los Angeles Lakers to win their 18th title.When not watching and writing basketball, you can find Aaron suited to play cricket, putting in some hard yards at the gym, trying a new coffee, and supporting Arsenal. Expertise: NBAFavorite Team: Los Angeles LakersPrevious Work: MEAWW, Blue Man Hoop, Sportskeeda
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