LeBron James has said that JR Smith cannot allow his "head to be down" after struggling with his shooting accuracy in the first four games of the NBA Finals.
Smith averaged 18 points per game for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals against the Atlanta Hawks, scoring with half of his shots, but has found the basket with just 29.7% of his efforts against the Golden State Warriors.
The four-time MVP told reporters: "I don't care how many shots he missed. I don't want his head to be down like it was in game four. It's a make-or-miss league.
"JR practices enough. We all are all professional athletes and we practice on our craft. But you can never allow someone either from the media or from the fans, from the opposition, from your family to ever see that you're down about what you're doing. It doesn't matter. He has to stay confident.
"If he's feeling confident about his ability, then I'm confident about it. But as a competitor, once you lose confidence in yourself, then it's really not much coming back from that. So if he's confident in himself, he'll be fine."
The NBA Finals are currently tied at 2-2 ahead of game five later today.
Sian Cowper
