Smart comes through

Wears down Wizards in the end

CELTICS NOTEBOOK

Marcus Smart can be an acquired taste, but Celtics coach Brad Stevens savored the bruising guard’s performance last night for a lot of reasons.

As usual, Smart only hit his shots at the biggest moments, including a corner 3-pointer to end the third quarter and another midway through the fourth. There were two blocks, four assists, six rebounds and a role in slowing down Washington’s Bradley Beal and wearing down John Wall, who went scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in the fourth quarter of the Celts’ series-clinching 115-105 victory over the Wizards.

“He definitely did (wear down),” said Smart. “We played them at their place, he hit a couple, the gamewinner. His legs were just gone. That’s what we just kept telling our guys, our coaching staff kept telling us, ‘Just keep playing. Make sure he sees two or three. He’s going to wear down. In Game 7, legs are gone.’ And it does play a role and a big factor.”

The result was a typical Marcus Smart night.

“Those plays are huge, like the block at the end of the half when they’ve already got a lead and now you block a shot and then you go down and shoot free throws. It’s a huge play,” said Stevens. “The plays that he made with the big rebounds, you know, he guarded Beal after Beal got going, and Beal was tremendous tonight. And those two big 3’s were — it’s exactly what we talk about. We can talk about Marcus’ shooting percentage all year round all we want, but I think we all know that when it’s all on the line he’s going to make it. And that’s a unique trait, I think.”

The crowd goes wild

Stevens never ceases to be impressed by the Garden crowd, but last night might have topped anything he has seen or heard.

“I mean, it was ridiculous. It was fantastic. It was unbelievable,” he said. “I tried to tell my friends back in Indiana, even being in the last two years in the playoffs, that there’s no place like this building in the playoffs. And I’m not sure that I’ve even felt that this building had ever reached this level tonight, at least since I’ve been here. I wasn’t fortunate enough to live some of those good memories of the past, but hopefully we can keep having nights like tonight.”

Added forward Al Horford: “It was great. It just felt good to be on the good side. It was really loud. I’m looking forward to more moments like that.”

Tough to compare

Stevens wasn’t drawing any similarities between his first NBA Game 7 and his Butler years, playing in two NCAA title games.

“None,” he began. “Those days were so different because, for one, I was in Indy in a hotel, which was weird in and of itself, and the other was in Houston. Just totally different scenarios, totally different days. Obviously it’s great to have a chance to experience those things. But a lot of players at this level have experienced those things as well.”

Stevens does believe a lot can be taken from an NCAA tourney experience.

“The most important thing is focusing on what you can control, what’s important right now,” said Stevens. “Once we get on the court, are we doing our best to be solid in doing what we want to do from a game plan standpoint. The other night we did a lot of that. We didn’t always score at our best level, it wasn’t the most efficient offensive game we played all series, but we really competed. Their All-Star made a huge, huge shot (to win the game). So you focus on what you can control and improve that efficiency in the offensive end, and hopefully defend with same sense of urgency.”

Good vibrations

Stevens still is amazed by his team’s demeanor.

“Our guys’ vibe never changes. It’s really, really, really rare,” he said. “One of the things I really appreciated about this team is they haven’t got too high or low. But one thing you have to focus on is to play well. When that shot went down and we didn’t score when we got the ball back, immediately our focus went to Game 7. We’ve gotta go. Wall hit a great shot.”

Stevens was then, bizarrely, asked if his team was excited for Game 7.

“I sure hope so, yeah,” he said. “That would be an issue if you weren’t excited to compete in this game.”