Smart return boost for struggling ‘D’
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
WALTHAM — There’s no statistic that can truly measure the defensive impact Marcus Smart has on the Celtics, even though the numbers paint a pretty accurate picture of the team’s struggles while the veteran guard has been sidelined.
The Celtics have given up 105.6 points per game in the 11 Smart has missed, a far cry from their season average of 99.6. And they didn’t just stumble into the All-Star break on the defensive end, they collapsed. Their last two games, losses against the Cavaliers (121 points allowed) and Clippers (129), were successively the C’s worst defensive outings of the season.
With Smart expected to return to the lineup tonight when the Celtics visit Detroit, coach Brad Stevens is counting on him to bring all of the things that make him one of the best defenders in the league and helped give them the No. 2 scoring defense in the NBA: his quick hands, instincts, toughness, and most importantly his ability to make opposing ball handlers uncomfortable.
“I do think that if you look at one of the areas where we were not as good over the last couple of weeks, and that is just simply ball pressure,” Stevens said.
The issue was most glaring in the Celtics back-toback defeats before the break. The Clippers guards combined to score 49 points and dish out 15 assists with only three turnovers, while the Cavs guards plus LeBron James scored 83 points with 17 assists and seven turnovers.
Stevens hopes Smart’s return will have a domino effect on the Celtics struggling defense.
“It’s hard to ask, if Kyrie (Irving’s) going to play 38 minutes a game, you can’t expect him to pressure the ball the way that he would ultimately like to with more depth,” Stevens said. “So Kyrie and Terry (Rozier) have had to do other things for us to float, and that’s one of the reasons why more depth is helpful, because it gives us more opportunity to change up who’s guarding different guys, more opportunity for everybody to pressure the ball because they’re all a little bit fresher.”
Smart missed yesterday’s practice with a thigh contusion, but Stevens was optimistic about his return to the lineup against the Pistons.
“We’re anticipating he’ll be good to go,” he said.
Intensity back up
The intensity is picking up for the Celtics as they enter the final stretch of the regular season, according to second-year wing Jaylen Brown, and it starts at the top with their pair of All-Star veterans.
“I think we have a sense of urgency about ourselves. I think we understand the second half of the season and the importance of it, getting ready for playoffs,” Brown said. “You can see some of the older guys — Kyrie, Al (Horford) — the attention to detail, the stress about the little things is becoming more evident.”
Regarding the team’s recent struggles, Brown said it was a matter of getting back the energy that defined the Celtics’ early season success.
“Toward the beginning of the season, everybody had that pop about them. We were quicker to the ball. We were more energetic, more enthused. We were faster, winning the foot races, things like that,” Brown said.
To Stevens, getting that “pop” back will be a crucial indicator of the team’s postseason potential.
“We’re going to have to play with that kind of urgency,” he said. “These are things that prepare you for what you ultimately want to be a part of down the road.”
M&M boys
After the Celtics opted to stand pat at the trade deadline and forgo acquiring a wing scorer to come off the bench, forwards Marcus Morris and Greg Monroe are going to be asked to carry more of the offensive load as Stevens fine-tunes the rotation heading into the playoffs.
That sounds good to Morris, who’s already established that kind of bench presence this season, averaging 12.2 points in just under 25 minutes per game.
Monroe is still searching for his role after a handful of appearances following his buyout from Phoenix, but Morris thinks his frontcourt mate won’t have any trouble finding his niche with the Celtics.
“(Monroe’s) a veteran. He’s been around. He knows how it goes,” Morris said. “He’s adapted right away. You’ve got to continue to stay ready. I think he’s done a great job of that, just being a veteran in the league.”