NEW YORK — It was Game 78 on the schedule.
It meant much more to Portsmouth's Brooklyn Nets forward Dorian Finney-Smith.
Finney Smith's father, Elbert Smith, was at Barclays Center Saturday night for the Nets-Detroit Pistons game. It was the first time the 52-year-old was able to watch his son play in person.
“It's exciting,” the Nets forward said before the game. “I think it's the first time he's seen me play in person, so he's very excited. But he definitely wants to get the win for him, so he's going to win. Please concentrate and do your best.”
Elbert Smith, who was honorably discharged from the Navy in the early 1990s, was charged in 1996 with second-degree murder, serious bodily injury, and use of a firearm in the shooting death of Willie Anderson II in Virginia Beach on January 25, 1995. Convicted. Smith was sentenced to 44 years in prison.
Another man involved in the death took a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter and a sentence of five years in prison. Mr. Smith was offered a similar deal, but his public defender advised him to turn it down and go to trial because Mr. Smith did not fire the fatal shot.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the Mavericks helped release Finney-Smith while he played with the team. The Virginia Parole Board unanimously voted to release Smith in July, and he was released in December.
He completed a sentence of 28 years, 9 months and 10 days.
Finney-Smith said her family had to wait until Smith was cleared to travel. He and Finney-Smith's mother, Desiree, arrived in New York on Friday.
“He would open the windows and look at all the buildings,” said Finney-Smith, who starred at Norcom High School and Virginia Tech. “Compared to when he came here in 1994, he remembers the old Brooklyn. He knew the history.”
Finney-Smith started, played 24 minutes, and scored two points in the Nets' 113-103 victory. After the game, he went to his father in the stands.
“I had to go out there and show him some love,” Finney-Smith told the New York Post. “He didn't hit the ball as well as he wanted, but we won, so that's all that matters.”
The Nets, who were eliminated from postseason contention on Wednesday, knew the importance of this game for Finney-Smith, who was acquired from the Mavericks last year.
“Yeah, we talked about it, but we didn't talk about what it meant or anything like that,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said before the game. “I know it's going to be an important thing for him and he's going to handle it like a pro. He's going to compartmentalize it and go out and do his job, but he's going to be a father. I think I have a special joy in my heart to see him finally play.”
Former Oscar Smith High standout Cam Thomas, another Nets starter from Hampton Roads, led Brooklyn with 32 points. The Nets won two games in a row.
“We just need to build something for next year,” Thomas said of the winning streak. “We just have to finish strong.”
Elbert Smith wore a black Nets cap and a white Nets shirt and filmed the whole thing, the Post reported.
“He was smiling the whole game,” Finney-Smith told the Post. “All I saw was his phone. He was recording the whole match. He's new to his iPhone and doesn't understand everything yet.
“It doesn't seem real.”
