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Cavaliers' J.R. Smith: Ineffective in return from thumb injury

Smith (thumb, illness) came off the bench and scored three points (1-9 FG, 1-8 3Pt) to go with one rebound in 19 minutes during Thursday's 106-101 loss to the Pistons.

Analysis:

After having been sidelined the Cavs' previous 36 games with a fractured thumb, Smith was cleared to play after having returned to practice without any complications earlier in the week. As was often the case prior to suffering the thumb injury, Smith struggled mightily Thursday, and it's not guaranteed that he'll see the 30-plus-minute workloads he often received in 2015-16. Though Kyle Korver (foot) was out Thursday, his presence on the roster will give coach Tyronn Lue another offensive-minded alternative at shooting guard in the event Smith fails to regain his shooting touch over the final month of the regular season. Smith is worth picking up in deeper leagues based on his track record of productivity, but those in shallower or mid-sized formats can probably leave the veteran on the wire until his performance trends upward.

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