In Game 1 of the opening round series between the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, Victor Oladipo went off. Going 11-for-19 shooting, including 6-of-9 from three-point range, the All-Star posted 32 points, six rebounds, four assists, a block and four steals.

As a result, the Pacers took down the Cavs 98-80. Therefore, Cleveland had to come up with a way to limit him.

In Game 2, he put up 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting and also added three rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 100-97 loss. He only got to the free throw line twice and was held in check.

But, in Games 3, 4 and 5, Oladipo has been completely shut down in the scoring column. After going 5-of-15 from the floor for 18 points in a Game 3 win, he went just 5-for-20 for 17 points in a Game 4 loss. Then, in the all-important Game 5, he had his worst game of the series, contributing just 12 points on 2-of-15 shooting.

Therefore, something changed. In this case, “something” actually refers to “someone”. And it’s pretty surprising who it is.

When thinking about JR Smith, defense is one of the last things that comes to mind. During the regular season, he was statistically one of the worst on-ball defenders in the entire league. But, it appears as though his lack of defensive prowess might be related to effort and not ability because in the playoffs, he’s been a completely different player.

Despite the fact that he shot 0-for-8 from the field, including each of his six three-point attempts, Smith still managed to be on the court for 33 minutes. That’s because he was getting right into the grill of Oladipo and dominating defensively.

"Second half I thought defensively JR was good," Lue said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. "He was a little mad at himself in the first half because he missed some open shots. But if he is playing defense like he did on Victor -- what'd he finish with? -- 2-of-15, 12 points then we'll take that. We relied on our defense tonight and did a good job.”

Teammate LeBron James also praised Smith’s effort on that end of the floor.

"JR was fantastic," James said. "Just trying to make Oladipo feel him out on the floor. Make it tough on him. I mean, Oladipo is an All-Star for a reason and he puts so much pressure on your defense. So for JR to take the challenge, we just try to be his eyes and ears behind him. Because when you're playing on the ball, sometimes you don't know what's going on behind you -- a lot of times you don't know what's going on behind you. And that sort of communication has to be at an all-time high. And we just try to make it where like we say, we can be his rearview.”

"But he's been great the last ... he's been great in the series, period, defensively. And I told him after the game, 'Listen, every shot that you took tonight, I felt like they were going in.' He had some really, really good looks but he never let that get to interfere with the defensive side and he was great,” LeBron added.

How does one shut down Oladipo? Smith explained the simple way he approaches the assignment.

"Just tried to be more physical, stay on his body more, as much as possible," Smith said. "Whenever he's not in the scoring area, just trying to deny him the ball and make it tough."

It remains to be seen if Smith’s lockdown coverage of Oladipo continues into Game 6, but if it does, Indiana might find themselves eliminated.

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