Dennis Johnson vs. J.R. Smith Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of J.R. Smith and Dennis Johnson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dennis Johnson played 14 years in the NBA, 2 less than J.R. Smith, who played 16. Dennis Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while J.R. Smith had his rookie season in 2004-05. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Season 3
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1978-79	2006-07
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	80	34.0	15.9	1.8	2.9	4.7	3.5	1.3	1.2	2.4	2.6	6.0	13.9	.434	-	-	-	3.8	4.9	.781
difference:	+17	+10.7	+2.9	+1.3	+1.1	+2.4	+2.1	+0.5	+1.1	-1.1	-0.3	+1.5	+3.7	+.007				+2.2	+2.9	+.029
J.R. Smith	63	23.3	13.0	0.5	1.8	2.3	1.4	0.8	0.1	1.3	2.3	4.5	10.2	.441	2.4	6.1	.390	1.6	2.0	.810
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	17	40.1	20.9	2.6	3.5	6.1	4.1	1.6	1.5	3.0	3.7	8.0	17.8	.450	-	-	-	4.9	6.4	.771
difference:	+13	+28.3	+16.4	+2.3	+1.5	+3.8	+3.6	+0.6	+1.2	-2.2	-2.2	+6.5	+12.3	+.177				+3.4	+4.9	+.229
J.R. Smith	4	11.8	4.5	0.3	2.0	2.3	0.5	1.0	0.3	0.8	1.5	1.5	5.5	.273	0.0	3.0	.000	1.5	1.5	1.000

Season 4
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1979-80	2007-08
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	81	36.3	19.0	2.1	3.0	5.1	4.1	1.8	1.0	2.8	3.3	7.1	16.8	.422	0.1	0.7	.207	4.7	6.0	.780
difference:	+7	+17.1	+6.7	+1.5	+1.5	+3.0	+2.4	+1.0	+0.8	-1.3	-1.4	+2.9	+7.7	+.039	+2.0	+4.6	+.196	+3.0	+3.6	+.061
J.R. Smith	74	19.2	12.3	0.6	1.5	2.1	1.7	0.8	0.2	1.5	1.9	4.2	9.1	.461	2.1	5.3	.403	1.7	2.4	.719
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	15	38.8	17.1	1.7	2.6	4.3	3.8	1.8	0.7	2.9	3.2	6.7	16.3	.410	0.3	1.0	.333	3.5	4.1	.839
difference:	+11	+11.8	+1.2	+1.4	+1.1	+2.5	+2.0	+0.8	+0.7	-1.6	-0.2	+0.9	+5.5	+.125	+1.5	+4.5	+.015	+1.5	+1.9	+.006
J.R. Smith	4	27.0	18.3	0.3	1.5	1.8	1.8	1.0	0.0	1.3	3.0	5.8	10.8	.535	1.8	5.5	.318	5.0	6.0	.833

Season 5
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1980-81	2008-09
Team	Phoenix Suns	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	79	33.1	18.8	2.0	2.6	4.6	3.7	1.7	0.8	2.6	3.1	6.7	15.4	.436	0.1	0.6	.216	5.2	6.3	.820
difference:	+2	+5.4	+3.6	+1.5	+0.5	+0.9	+0.9	+0.7	+0.6	-0.7	-0.8	+1.5	+3.7	+.010	+2.1	+5.0	+.181	+2.7	+2.9	+.066
J.R. Smith	81	27.7	15.2	0.5	3.1	3.7	2.8	1.0	0.2	1.9	2.3	5.2	11.7	.446	2.2	5.6	.397	2.5	3.4	.754
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	7	38.1	19.6	1.0	3.7	4.7	2.9	1.3	1.3	2.7	2.6	7.4	15.7	.473	0.1	0.7	.200	4.6	6.0	.762
difference:	+9	+10.9	+4.7	+0.3	+1.1	+1.4	+0.1	+0.2	+1.0	-1.1	-0.6	+1.9	+3.6	+.019	+2.3	+5.9	+.158	+3.0	+3.1	+.219
J.R. Smith	16	27.2	14.9	0.7	2.6	3.3	2.8	1.1	0.3	1.6	3.2	5.5	12.1	.454	2.4	6.6	.358	1.6	2.9	.543

Season 6
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1981-82	2009-10
Team	Phoenix Suns	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	80	36.7	19.5	1.8	3.4	5.1	4.6	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.2	7.2	15.4	.470	0.1	0.5	.190	5.0	6.2	.806
difference:	+5	+8.9	+4.1	+1.4	+0.7	+2.0	+2.2		+0.4	-1.0	-0.9	+1.5	+1.6	+.056	+2.0	+5.7	+.148	+3.1	+3.5	+.100
J.R. Smith	75	27.8	15.4	0.4	2.7	3.1	2.4	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.3	5.7	13.8	.414	2.1	6.2	.338	1.9	2.7	.706
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	7	38.7	22.3	1.9	2.6	4.4	4.6	2.1	0.6	3.6	4.0	9.0	18.9	.477	0.0	0.4	.000	4.3	5.6	.769
difference:	+1	+12.2	+11.1	+1.1	+0.4	+0.6	+2.9	+1.4	+0.3	-2.6	-1.2	+5.5	+9.4	+.109	+1.8	+4.8	+.355	+2.0	+2.9	+.106
J.R. Smith	6	26.5	11.2	0.8	3.0	3.8	1.7	0.7	0.3	1.0	2.8	3.5	9.5	.368	1.8	5.2	.355	2.3	2.7	.875

Season 7
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1982-83	2010-11
Team	Phoenix Suns	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	77	33.1	14.2	1.2	3.2	4.4	5.0	1.3	0.5	2.6	2.6	5.2	11.2	.462	0.1	0.4	.161	3.8	4.8	.791
difference:	+2	+8.2	+1.9	+0.6	+0.3	+0.3	+2.8	+0.1	+0.3	-1.3	-0.4	+0.9	+1.3	+.027	+1.5	+3.6	+.229	+1.7	+2.0	+.053
J.R. Smith	79	24.9	12.3	0.6	3.5	4.1	2.2	1.2	0.2	1.3	2.2	4.3	9.9	.435	1.6	4.0	.390	2.1	2.8	.738
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	3	36.0	18.0	2.0	5.7	7.7	5.7	1.7	0.7	2.7	3.0	7.3	16.0	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.3	4.0	.833
difference:	+2	+20.8	+8.2	+1.8	+3.9	+5.7	+4.7	+1.3	+0.7	-1.1	-1.4	+4.1	+7.0	+.102	+1.8	+3.9	+.429	+1.7	+1.8	+.106
J.R. Smith	5	15.2	9.8	0.2	1.8	2.0	1.0	0.4	0.0	1.6	1.6	3.2	9.0	.356	1.8	4.2	.429	1.6	2.2	.727

Season 8
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1983-84	2011-12
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	80	33.3	13.2	1.1	2.4	3.5	4.2	1.2	0.7	2.2	3.1	4.8	11.0	.437	0.1	0.4	.125	3.5	4.1	.852
difference:	+45	+5.7	+0.7	+0.3	+0.7	+0.4	+1.8	+0.3	+0.5	-0.9	-0.6	+0.1	+0.6	+.030	+1.8	+5.1	+.222	+2.4	+2.5	+.143
J.R. Smith	35	27.6	12.5	0.8	3.1	3.9	2.4	1.5	0.2	1.3	2.5	4.7	11.6	.407	1.9	5.5	.347	1.1	1.6	.709
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	22	36.7	16.6	1.4	2.2	3.6	4.4	1.1	0.3	2.4	3.4	5.9	14.5	.404	0.1	0.3	.429	4.7	5.5	.867
difference:	+17	+1.7	+4.4	+1.0		+1.0	+2.2	+0.1	+0.1	-0.2	-0.4	+1.1	+0.7	+.088	+0.9	+5.3	+.250	+3.1	+3.9	+.133
J.R. Smith	5	35.0	12.2	0.4	2.2	2.6	2.2	1.2	0.2	2.2	3.8	4.8	15.2	.316	1.0	5.6	.179	1.6	1.6	1.000

Season 9
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1984-85	2012-13
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Sixth Man of the Year
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	80	37.2	15.7	1.1	2.8	4.0	6.8	1.2	0.5	2.7	2.8	6.2	13.3	.462	0.1	0.3	.269	3.3	3.8	.853
difference:		+3.7	+2.4	+0.3	+1.7	+1.3	+4.1	+0.1	+0.2	-1.0		+0.4	+2.3	+.040	+1.8	+5.2	+.087	+0.3	+0.1	+.091
J.R. Smith	80	33.5	18.1	0.8	4.5	5.3	2.7	1.3	0.3	1.7	2.8	6.6	15.6	.422	1.9	5.5	.356	3.0	3.9	.762
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	21	40.4	17.3	1.1	2.9	4.0	7.3	1.5	0.4	3.4	3.1	6.8	15.2	.445	0.0	0.7	.000	3.8	4.4	.860
difference:	+10	+8.5	+3.0	+0.6	+1.3	+0.7	+5.9	+0.5	+0.1	-1.6	-0.6	+1.9	+0.4	+.114	+1.6	+5.3	+.273	+1.0	+0.5	+.139
J.R. Smith	11	31.9	14.3	0.5	4.2	4.7	1.4	1.0	0.5	1.8	2.5	4.9	14.8	.331	1.6	6.0	.273	2.8	3.9	.721

Season 10
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1985-86	2013-14
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	78	35.0	15.6	0.9	2.6	3.4	5.8	1.4	0.4	2.2	2.6	6.2	13.6	.455	0.1	0.5	.143	3.1	3.8	.818
difference:	+4	+2.3	+1.1	+0.4	+0.9	+0.6	+2.8	+0.5	+0.1	-0.7		+0.8	+0.7	+.040	+2.5	+6.0	+.251	+1.9	+1.9	+.166
J.R. Smith	74	32.7	14.5	0.5	3.5	4.0	3.0	0.9	0.3	1.5	2.6	5.4	12.9	.415	2.6	6.5	.394	1.2	1.9	.652
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	18	39.7	16.2	1.3	2.9	4.2	5.9	2.2	0.3	2.8	3.2	6.1	13.6	.445	0.3	0.9	.375	3.7	4.7	.798
J.R. Smith	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1986-87	2014-15
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive First Team	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	79	37.1	13.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	1.1	0.5	2.2	2.5	5.4	12.1	.444	0.1	0.8	.113	2.6	3.2	.833
difference:	+9	+7.4	+1.3	+0.2		+0.2	+4.7	+0.1	+0.2	-0.8	-0.2	+0.9	+1.3	+.027	+2.2	+5.3	+.270	+1.8	+2.2	+.083
J.R. Smith	70	29.7	12.1	0.4	2.7	3.1	2.8	1.2	0.3	1.4	2.3	4.5	10.8	.417	2.3	6.1	.383	0.8	1.0	.750
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	23	41.9	18.9	1.0	2.9	4.0	8.9	0.7	0.3	1.9	3.1	7.3	15.7	.465	0.1	1.1	.115	4.2	4.9	.850
difference:	+5	+10.8	+6.1	+0.5	+1.3	+0.7	+7.7	+0.2	+0.3	-1.1	-0.1	+2.7	+4.3	+.062	+2.7	+6.8	+.244	+3.4	+3.8	+.150
J.R. Smith	18	31.1	12.8	0.5	4.2	4.7	1.2	0.9	0.6	0.8	3.0	4.6	11.4	.403	2.8	7.9	.359	0.8	1.1	.700

Season 12
	Dennis Johnson	J.R. Smith
Season	1987-88	2015-16
Team	Boston Celtics	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	NBA Champion

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	77	34.7	12.6	0.8	2.3	3.1	7.8	1.2	0.4	2.5	2.6	4.6	10.4	.438	0.2	0.6	.261	3.3	3.9	.856
difference:		+4.0	+0.2	+0.2		+0.3	+6.1	+0.1	+0.1	-1.7			+0.6	+.023	+2.4	+6.0	+.139	+2.7	+3.0	+.222
J.R. Smith	77	30.7	12.4	0.6	2.3	2.8	1.7	1.1	0.3	0.8	2.6	4.6	11.0	.415	2.6	6.6	.400	0.6	0.9	.634
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dennis Johnson	17	41.3	15.9	0.9	3.6	4.5	8.2	1.4	0.5	2.6	3.0	5.4	12.4	.433	0.4	0.9	.375	4.8	6.1	.796
difference:	+4	+6.5	+4.4	+0.6	+0.7	+1.3	+6.8	+0.2	+0.3	-2.1	-0.4	+1.5	+3.4	+.003	+2.7	+6.3	+.055	+4.2	+5.1	+.177
J.R. Smith	21	34.8	11.5	0.3	2.9	3.2	1.4	1.2	0.2	0.5	2.6	3.9	9.0	.436	3.1	7.2	.430	0.6	1.0	.619