Ish Smith has been the definition of an NBA journeyman. Since his first season in 2010-11, he has played for 11 teams (!!!) But he’s now hitting his stride with the Washington Wizards this season where he’s averaging a career-high 11.0 points despite playing most of his games off the bench.
Last night, Smith scored a career-high 32 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the field. He scored 23 of those points in the second half, turning around a game that the Nuggets could have come back from in the third quarter into a solid win by the time the final buzzer sounded. Watch his highlights in the video above.
Shooting a high percentage from the field looks great. But Smith also got his points in a rather ... mid-2000s way, when the midrange shot was considered a better shot than jacking up threes all the time in today’s league. In fact, the majority of his shots were from midrange.
Ish Smith's chart for the second half when he took over. pic.twitter.com/0nG9S9Vaxs
— Albert Lee (@aleeinthedmv) January 5, 2020
Yes, it’s true that midrange shots are “inefficient points.” But in the case of last night’s game, the Wizards wouldn’t be winners without Smith’s effort last night.