C’s get back on top
Smart’s return ignites ‘D’ in critical Game 5 victory
Even after playing his first game in six weeks, Marcus Smart’s thoughts last night were back in Flower Mound, Texas, with his mother, Camellia.
Camellia Smart, diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, told her son to return to Boston to get ready for his return to the Celtics lineup, and he responded by decorating his sneakers with the inscriptions, “I fight, you fight,” “Mama’s Boy,” and “F-Cancer.”
“That’s just how I feel. We’re going to beat this. My mom’s doing well right now, she’s getting better,” he said. “And things are looking on the upside for us. So we’re still positive, we’re still praying, and we’ve still got faith.”
With their defensive and spiritual leader back on the floor, the Celtics played their edgiest and most effective game of the series, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 92-87 in Game 5 at the Garden to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Led by Al Horford’s 22-point, 14-rebound dou- ble-double, the Celtics played their best defensive game, limiting the Bucks to 36.8 shooting, including a somewhat inefficient 23-point, 9-for21 performance by Khris Middleton. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a series-low 16 points, and only took 10 shots.
Smart filled the stat sheet in his 24 minutes, scoring nine points with five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and one steal.
He wasn’t the only difference. Stevens, who prizes Semi Ojeleye’s defensive flexibility, started the rookie, who finished with five points and the game’s two biggest rebounds down the stretch, but above all played a major role in limiting Antetokounmpo’s subdued production. The Bucks forward instead became a playmaker, finishing with nine assists and 10 rebounds.
“We played them during the season and through the playoffs, so there’s a lot of film, but he has multiple moves and his size and speed is tough,” Ojeleye said. “Try to beat him to the spot. But he has the full package, so it’s tough.”
The Celtics played with a different kind of defensive intensity, thanks to the reinsertion of Smart into the lineup. He dove for a loose ball 33 seconds into his initial appearance in the first quarter, triggering a fast break, and not long after met Antetokounmpo at the rim to break up an attempted alley-oop.
The C’s guard set the tone from that point on. As evidenced by Smart’s ability to get a pass to Al Horford for an 86-79 lead with 28.1 seconds left, despite falling to the floor against a Bucks trap, he returned with playmaking skills intact.
“I mean I just made a play. I made a quick play,” said Smart. “I saw them trapping at the last minute, on the floor I saw Al. It’s kind of hard when you’ve got three guys on you, but I just tried to make sure I got him the ball and it was going to take everything I had. I just made an emphasis that I was the one who was going to make the play and get it to Al.”
In the midst of a sloppy opening to the fourth, including four straight Celtics misses and a turnover, the Bucks took a bite out of the C’s edge with a 7-0 run that included five straight points from Jabari Parker.
The Celtics got their next break from a Horford 3-pointer with 7:14 left for a 77-70 lead. Marcus Morris slid down the lane for a Terry Rozier feed and a 79-70 edge with 5:49 left.
Milwaukee cut the margin to four on an Eric Bledsoe 3 with 3:25 left, and Jaylen Brown answered by hitting the second of two free throws,
But Ojeleye jumped into traffic to grab a big defensive rebound, leading to Brown’s layup off a Horford feed for an 84-77 lead with 1:49 left.
The Celtics were able to eke their way through the last 25 seconds, shooting 6-for-8 from the line. Only then did the electric charge from Smart’s presence subside.
“The feeling was felt when they first heard I was coming back. Instantly, the guys were excited,” said Smart. “They were telling me everything, from the fact that they were proud of me, excited for me to come back, and they told me to bring energy. Guys were playing well and played good defense. We held them to 87 points, the lowest total of the series. That speaks volumes about how we responded.”