Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith made the Knicks pay for trading them off to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavs won 101-83 over the Knicks on Sunday, February 22 at Madison Square Garden in New York, which further put the home team down 10-45, maintaining its position as the worst team in the NBA.
Bleacher Report wrote that former Knicks players Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith added insult to injury by finishing a beautiful play in the fourth quarter. The Knicks were already down 87-59 with less than 10 minutes remaining. Shumpert was at the three-point line when he found Smith cutting to the paint. Shumpert threw a perfect lob which was caught mid-air by Smith to finish with a powerful double-clutch reverse dunk.
Both teams and the fans were electrified with the play and the Knicks immediately called a timeout. Smith went straight to Shumpert as the two jumped to give each other a chest bump and hug. The rest of the Cavs congratulated them for the spectacular alley-oop as they neared the bench.
Huffington Post shared a video showing LeBron James from the sidelines putting his hands on his head and flashing a huge smile in amazement. He also gave his teammates a pat on the back for a job well done. Cleveland.com reported that James described the play as beautiful and special.
James said, "I was planning on not getting up too many times and starting my treatment session. But that was special."
Kyrie Irving said later, in the same Huffington Post report, "It was probably one of the best dunks I've probably seen in my short career."
Smith and Shumpert were traded to the Cavs by the Knicks in January 2015. The two returned to the Garden as Cavs for the first time against their former team and made the Knicks feel worse through their stellar numbers. Smith shot 7-11 from the field and 3-5 from the three-point line, scoring 17 points total. Smith added +26 plus-minus, four assists, two blocks and one steal. He only had one turnover while playing 29 minutes.
Cleveland.com reported that Smith said after the game, "The way we ended it, I think it was one for the books."
Shumpert added, "They kind of cheated to cut him off, so he went back door. Just playing basketball, man. It was fun though."
Cavaliers coach David Blatt told Smith after the dunk, "Thank you for the price of admission."