While the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs is well underway, the NBA regular season awards are wrapping up. Every year there are some awards that are obvious no-brainers (hint: LeBron for MVP), but there are also the ones that ignite debate among fans and analysts.
This season, the race for Sixth Man of the Year was a two-horse trot between J.R. Smith and Jamal Crawford. However, when the dust cleared, it was J.R. Swish who took home the hardware.
While Smith had a great season in his own right, the fact that he got the award over Crawford should be viewed as highway robbery.
J.R. and the New York Knicks finished the regular season as the hottest team in the league with an 18-2 record in their last 20 games. Smith was a big part of that success and in the month of March alone, Smith scored 398 points. The outstanding finish to the season is one likely reason why he received the award.
Overall, Crawford had the better year of the two. Smith averaged more points (18.1 vs. 16.5) and more rebounds (5.3 vs. 1.7), but Crawford was better in every other category. The Los Angeles Clippers won two more games than the Knicks. Crawford shot better from the field (43.8 vs. 42.2 percent), better from deep (37.6 vs. 35.6 percent) and better from the free throw line (87.1 vs. 76.2 percent).
The most telling stat though is the difference in the two players plus/minus. For the year, Smith totaled a plus-297 — for comparison’s sake, Kevin Durant led the league with a plus/minus of plus-721 — and Crawford had a plus-366. At first sight that may not look like a huge gap but if you further break it down to wins and losses, you notice the true disparity between the two. Crawford had a plus/minus of plus-464 in wins and minus-98 in losses. Smith, on the other hand, outdid Crawford in wins, tallying plus-568 in wins, but an astounding minus-271 in losses.
What all those numbers mean is that J.R. Smith was more of a detriment to his team in losses than Crawford was. Game-in and game-out, month-by-month, Crawford was giving you the same things; Smith had a more up and down season before ending on a high note.
The NBA operates as a “what have you done for me lately?” league and Smith was the hotter name to end the year. Also, the Clippers have the more talented roster and names like CP3 and Blake Griffin probably took some votes away from Crawford in the end. Yet, if you take the whole season into account, Jamal Crawford had the better 2012-13 year and should have his name engraved on this year’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Who should’ve won the award: Smith or Crawford?
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