Las Vegas (SportsRadio 610)- Jabari Smith Jr. was frustrated. He started his second Summer League game by missing seven of his first eight shots, including all five three pointers, so as he made his way to the Rocket bench after a timeout was called with 2:35 left in the second quarter, he hoisted another three, which clanged off the rim, but Smith stayed positive and played through his shooting struggles.
A couple of possessions after the timeout and a missed 14-footer, Smith altered a Chet Holmgren layup attempt, secured the rebound and started a Fastbreak. Josh Christopher found him on the break and Smith finally saw a three-pointer find the bottom of the net. The sequence gave Thomas and Mack Center a jolt and showed off Smith's advanced mindset.
"Just trying to have a short-term memory," Smith said following the Rockets 90-88 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. "I try not to worry about the past and just move on. My teammates keep encouraging me to shoot the next shot and the next shot will fall, and I'm just keeping that mentality, so any open shot I got, I'm gonna take it."
The third overall pick of June's draft finished Saturday's game 5-of-19 from the floor, 2-of-9 from behind the three-point line, but the fact that he kept shooting and never lost his confidence was important.
"He's full of confidence, and he's supposed to be full of confidence, because we all have the utmost confidence in him," Rockets Summer League head coach Rick Higgins said. "Obviously, we want him to shoot the ball, we just want him to shoot good shots, and as long as he shoots good shots each and every one of his teammates are going to believe it's going to go in."
While his shot may not have been falling, Smith found ways to put his imprint on Saturday's game. He filled up the box score by grabbing nine rebounds, coming away with four steals, and blocking three shots. He played solid defense throughout, and dove on the floor to collect a loose ball in the game's final seconds with the Rockets protecting a one-point lead, which Higgins thought sent a message to everyone else on the team.
"That's what you need at the end of the game," he said. "That's what you need from your best player. If they are going to do that late game, who's not going to do it, so if our best players and our highest profile players are willing to put their body on the line late game for their teammates. What can that make our group become?"
Smith is shooting just 31 percent from the field after his first two games in Vegas, but he knows shots aren't always going to go in, and there is a lot more to basketball than just shooting the basketball.
"Just trying to play defense as hard as I can. Try to get every rebound, trying to block shots, so I just tried to impact the game in different ways."
