J.R. Smith steals the spotlight in Cavs 125-99 win over the Timberwolves

Few things in basketball are more exciting than watching Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith when he gets hot, and even fewer things are more exciting than Smith's shot selection.

Against the Minnesota Timberwolves, with the storyline surrounding both Kevin Love and Andrew Wiggins facing off against their respective former teams, Smith did what he usually does best -- catching fire from behind the three-point line and stealing the spotlight on national television, scoring a team-high 27 points and connecting on 5-of-his-6 three-point attempts in the Cavs 125-99 win.

Smith had the hot hand right from the opening tip, hitting his first six shots to start the game and would miss only one shot on nine first half attempts. He would finish the first half with 21 points and was a big reason that the Cavs were up by 18 at the half.

In the second half, Smith would "cool off," but it was more a matter of him only taking three shots (making two of them) than him simply missing shots. Even with his limited production, the lead created in the first half from would steadily remain throughout most of the second half, as the Cavs lead never dipped below 13.

It's rare to have nights where the Cavs offense is scoring as well as they do without either Love, LeBron James or Kyrie Irving are playing well, and it's even more rare when the Cavs score as many points as they did tonight when those three combine to shoot 14-of-35 from the field. This is where Smith becomes a vital piece to the Cavs. At the off chance that all three of James, Love and Irving are off, Smith's ability to single-handily carry an offense is huge, and tonight was a prime example of that.

Of course, just as important as Smith's ability to catch fire for one game is his ability to hit open shots and become the weapon from behind the arc that we saw last season. With tonight's game, we're starting to see that Smith, as he's made 18 of his last 30 three-pointers in his last three games after a somewhat rough start to his season.

Although nights like this are becoming more rare for Smith, the level of joy of watching him make shot after shot after shot will never got old. Hopefully for the Cavs, the feeling is mutual.