Smart has sixth sense on return
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
MILWAUKEE — Marcus Smart wants to play when the Celtics return here for Game 6 on Thursday.
That possibility should be determined tomorrow when the C’s guard meets with his doctor in New York with the goal of being cleared for action. Smart, recovering from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, believes he is ready to play again. The rest is up to his surgeon.
Smart’s return date originally had been pegged as April 27, or the day before Game 7. His current hopes target an earlier return.
Asked yesterday about a possible Game 6 scenario, Smart said, “Right now that’s the plan and we’re still on the same track. I’ve been doing everything but contact, so I will be able to go and start that.”
Waiting this long has obviously been a challenge for Smart, who admittedly has had trouble sitting out the first four playoff games of the series against the Bucks.
“Yeah, I’m antsy, real antsy, staying in the back, trying to keep myself from going crazy. Just trying to stay in shape,” he said. “It’s the playoffs, so any game around this time is going to make you antsy, especially in an atmosphere like this. The outcome (from Game 3) the other night wasn’t up to par with what we expected.”
Conditioning, he said, won’t be a problem.
“We have a good training staff, and they have everything we need to stay ready to be ready,” said Smart, who believes he is ready for contact.
“I do. I think the thumb, the surgery did its job. Thumb is holding up well,” he said. “I feel ready, I feel strong enough to get back out there. I’m just waiting on the OK.”
Smart has been shooting with a splint specifically designed to work in a game.
“The shooting I’ve been doing, the tape, the splint’s under there,” he said. “This is just, everyday life when I’m just walking around and God forbid anything happens freakish, hit it on something, just walking around everyday life.
“(The splint is) actually, real comfortable. It feels like nothing’s there. To have that comfortability, especially in my dominant hand, my shooting hand, that’s a good feeling to have.”
Morris T’d off
Maybe he dressed at Rasheed Wallace’s old locker during his time in Detroit, because Marcus Morris has certainly channeled the spirit of the retired center and annual leader on the NBA’s technical foul chart.
Morris, fined $15,000 by the league for comments about the officiating in Game 3, picked up his second straight technical in the 104-102 Game 4 loss yesterday.
For what, he’s not sure, but the Celtics forward has been on a roll with six technical fouls since the last week of the season, when he was ejected twice. Nor did he back down yesterday from his belief that he’s being targeted.
“I mean, I don’t know. One thing is that every day I come out here and put my hard hat on. I love to play this game and it’s just game in and game out, it’s the same thing man,” he said. “I’m not doing a lot of chit chat or I’m being physical. I’m watching these other games and they’re getting warnings. If it’s me, it’s a technical foul. I just got fined. I’m not worried about that, it’s just when you come to work every day and you put your heart and soul into something, it’s just a quick whistle and that’s how it goes.
Asked if his relationship with referees is starting to affect his game, Morris said, “I play hard, man. I don’t know no other way to play. It’s not like I’m overly talking to the referees or making infractions with the referees.
“It’s a game between men and we got out there and it gets chippy,” Morris added. “We bump a little bit. It’s not over the top, but like every game I have to get a technical foul, you know what I mean? I’m not engaging into anything, I’m not going at the referees, I’m not talking crazy to him. For me, it’s just getting old. Fining me, teching me, it’s getting old. It’s laughable at this point.”
Semi sweet chance
Semi Ojeleye is probably the most laterally quick power forward on the roster, and that ability earned him extended minutes (17) in Game 4, mainly spent guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“A guy with that kind of size and speed is tough to keep in front,” said the rookie forward. “Make him shoot long 2’s. But once he gets up a head of steam it’s hard to keep him in front.”
Ojeleye once again learned something about Brad Stevens’ favorite message to his reserves. “For sure stay ready. Coach always pulls guys aside and says stay ready,” said Ojeleye. “You never know with the flow of the game, so we try to stay locked in.”