Smart play: Time to shine
Celtics guard Marcus Smart had an open lane for an easy fast-break basket. Then he unnecessarily moved the ball behind his back and flubbed a layup.
A minute later, he had the ball again and hit an acrobatic circus shot on the baseline from behind the backboard. He drew a foul, too.
That was the Marcus Smart Experience in a nutshell Thursday night: sometimes ugly, sometimes entertaining, always impactful. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Smart had 24 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists in a game the Celtics thoroughly dominated, 127-102, to tie the best-of-seven series. He had only a single turnover in one of the best playoff performances.
This season has seen the continuation of a remarkable shift for the 28-yearold Smart: There is a lot less ugly. He has emerged as a steady, reliable point guard who can more than competently run the Celtics’ offense, even as his efforts on defense — he was named the NBA’S defensive player of the year — draw the most attention.
Smart missed the first game of the series Tuesday because of a foot sprain, and his absence was evident. The Celtics collapsed in the third quarter, when Smart’s talents for calming the offense down and anchoring the defense could have changed the game.
Right from the opening tip Thursday, Smart affected the game. The Celtics first scored off a difficult cross-court pass from Smart to shooting guard Jaylen Brown. Smart immediately followed that with a harder-than-itlooked alley-oop to center
Robert Williams III.
In the first half, Smart was 2 for 11 from the field. For most, that would mean they were having a bad game. But Smart was one of the best players on the court, because of his seven assists and zero turnovers. The Celtics led by 25 at halftime, and they had outscored the Heat by 26 with Smart on the floor.
“I’m not the type of coach that wants to call a play every time down,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. “I leave it in his hands, and he usually makes the right decision.”
Smart did not enjoy the same kind of trust earlier in his career. In the previous seven years of his NBA journey, all with Boston, Smart was known mostly as a stalwart defensive player with a penchant for throwing up bad shots early in the shot clock and for making ill-advised passes. He was also, for the most part, a poor shooter from 3-point range. Smart had other attributes that made him a fan favorite, however, such as his willingness to constantly dive to the floor for loose balls.
This year, despite his perceived offensive limitations, Smart was handed the keys to the Celtics offense for the first time. It was a risky decision. Smart had never been a starting point guard for a whole season. He had never even been a full-time starter until the 2020-21 season. He had played behind star point guards such as Kemba Walker and Isaiah Thomas, two former All-stars who had made their living as scorers. But Walker’s injuries last year gave Smart a chance a get a taste of being the main point guard.
“That’s what I got drafted here to do, and I just waited my turn,” Smart said.