Thumb’s up on final exam
Coaches put Smart injury to final pregame workout
After not playing in a game for six weeks, even a low level of contact was going to be enough for Marcus Smart to play last night after getting cleared by his hand surgeon.
So the Celtics guard got into a 2-on-2 session with members of the coaching staff yesterday. Then he went out and scored nine points in the 92-87 win over the Milwaukee Bucks that gave the Celts a 3-2 series lead.
“We had a couple of our coaches out there, so it wasn’t like a full-blown two-on-two,” said Brad Stevens, taking a moment to take a good-natured crack at assistant coach Alex Barlow. “More of a jog through, put a body on people. Barlow was the main guy. Anybody in here could beat Barlow. It was just a matter of making it a little more physical.”
Smart, pleased with the workout, not to mention how his surgically repaired right thumb responded to contact, pronounced himself ready for Game 5.
“Directly, just playing defense,” Smart said of how he absorbed his first contact in six weeks. “Guarding people off screens, coming off screens, fighting through with the ball. I’m sure they’re going to attack my hand and how it held up. It held up pretty good (in 2-on-2). We’re excited about it. We’re good with the progress that we made and we’re ready to go.”
Smart suffered the injury while diving for a loose ball, and he vowed to be on the floor again last night, regardless of worries about his thumb.
“No. Never. Not at all,” Smart said of the absence of hesitation in his return to the scrum. “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. Whatever happens, it happens. It’s part of the game. Injuries happen. Can’t control it. Obviously, if we did, no one would be injured. If you start trying to play not to get hurt, that’s when you start to get hurt instead of just going out there to play.
“I’m right on track. She (his doctor) said about six weeks, the ligaments (are) practically healed. But there’s always risk with anything you do surgically. My chances are (no) higher with my left hand, it’s just as much as my first hand, especially with the splint on. So for her to reiterate that to me gives a lot of certainty to me and my staff and my team that there’s nothing really more I can do to it, that was going to keep me from playing, so just go out there and play.”
For Smart, it beats the alternative.
“It’s hard,” he said of watching the Celtics struggles in Games 3 and 4 in Milwaukee. “It’s one thing to be on the bench talking and telling guys where to go. It’s another being out there chilling with guys, and it was tough for me. It’s all behind me tonight. We’re focused on tonight and tonight’s going to be a good game.”
Get-well cards
As a result of his time in sick bay, Smart had a chance to add to his sympathy for those Celtics done for the year: Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis.
“Definitely. We talked to those guys, especially when Kyrie went and did his thing with his problem, his situation,” said Smart. “We talked about that. It’s one thing about Kyrie, even though he’s not here with us, he’s texting guys, he’s making sure guys understand what’s going on and things like that. Gordon, just the whole season that he’s had, he’s still been a part of this team and things like that. Those are good signs. You need guys like that at a time like this. We got a lot of young guys playing and this is the first time for a lot of these guys. To have those older guys still here, in spirit, and things like that means a lot.”
A good time for Brown
Jaylen Brown is having the time of his young career. In this series, the Celtics guard has averaged 23.8 points and 5.3 rebounds. Last night he hit for 14 points
“We talk so much about staying in the moment and trying to do your role well in that moment that it just becomes another time at the office,” said Stevens. “Everything is heightened once you get in the playoffs, but if you get too focused on that it can be a distraction. But he’s great at what he needs to do, really committed to improving. That mindset has served him well during his tenure here. We’re really encouraged by how he played the other day. He kept us in the game when nothing else was going well. Made huge plays late, and gave us a chance to win.”