J.R. Smith, LaLa Vazquez on Twitter: Real star of Nuggets game one win was Ty Lawson

J.R. Smith has gotten into trouble with his tweets, whether it's been the Denver Post hinting that his spelling might have hidden gang code, an unwise decision to call out Kobe Bryant, or an "LMAO" aimed at a very pissed-off Kenyon Martin. But after the Nuggets' victory over the Utah...

By Michael Roberts

April 19, 2010

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J.R. Smith has gotten into trouble with his tweets, whether it's been the Denver Post hinting that his spelling might have hidden gang code, an unwise decision to call out Kobe Bryant, or an "LMAO" aimed at a very pissed-off Kenyon Martin.

But after the Nuggets' victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday in the first round of the playoffs, he did a very smart thing. Even though he scored eleven straight points in the second half to shift the momentum in the Nugs' favor for good, he gave credit to teammate Ty Lawson that he could easily have taken for himself.

"Thank you to all my followers for all the support but all the credit should got to @tylawson3 great game lil bro!" Smith tweeted on his feed.

LaLa Vazquez took the same tack even though her main squeeze, Carmelo Anthony, put up 42 points, a personal playoff high. Using her Twitter account, she declared, "@tylawson3 deserves a lot of credit tonight! WHAT A GAME!--- thanks homie 1 down 3 to go."

And Lawson, who wound up scoring eleven points and racking up six assists without a turnover? At this writing, his most recent tweet reads, "AFTER this game im a be on xbox live HEAVY!!!"

Good idea. Lawson will need to conserve his energy for tonight's second game, which is even bigger for the Nuggets than the opener. As for J.R., let's hope his play is as smart as that tweet.

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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