Smart out Game 2 with thigh contusion
Not expected to be long-term
Though the Celtics don’t consider his absence to be a long-term matter, they suffered a serious loss before Game 2 even began Tuesday night after Marcus Smart was ruled out with a bruised right thigh.
The Celtics guard was twice hit in the thigh during their Game 1 loss to the Bucks, aggravating an injury that has kept him out in the past. Though the injury is not considered a long-term issue — Ime Udoka cited the threeday gap before Game 3 in Milwaukee on Saturday as a chance for his starting point guard to heal — any amount of time without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is not beneficial.
“Swelling, pain, restricted movement,” the Celtics coach said of the condition of Smart’s right thigh. “So obviously swelling and he got hit pretty hard, so just some limited movement that didn’t get better over the day as we thought it would.
“I don’t think it’s long term. He’s got hit and missed some games in the past, but probably with the three days off, we assume he’ll be OK.”
That much seems to be an assumption among those who play with Smart.
“Marcus is a guy that’s gonna fight through anything,” said Grant Williams. “So I don’t know much about it, but I know his personality. So in terms of his injury and stuff like that, I don’t really know that. That’s more for the health guys. But for myself, knowing Marcus, he’s one of the most competitive guys I know. So whatever happens, happens.”
White steps in
Though he’s been slow to build steam as a scorer in the playoffs — his two Game 1 3-pointers were his first since Game 1 of the Brooklyn series — Derrick White is as seamless a replacement for Smart as the Celtics could hope for.
“That’s the benefit of Derrick, I think he does a lot of things well,” Udoka said of White’s impact on both sides of the ball. “Obviously it’s hard to make up for Marcus,
specifically what he does for our team, but the scheme and coverage doesn’t change. It’s just Derrick is another big guard that we don’t lose a lot as far as size and versatility defensively, and then offensively, he’s very capable of scoring, running the plays and getting guys involved. The beauty of having him is he checks a lot of those boxes and obviously Payton (Pritchard) is one of our toughest guys, but you have a size disadvantage there, so you lose a little bit as far as that, but not a lot of drop-off with Derrick in there other than the toughness nobody really brings that Marcus has.”
Good shots
Only 10 of the Celtics’ 28 baskets in Game 1 came from within the 3-point arc, and shot selection was one issue the Celtics needed to correct Tuesday night against Milwaukee’s paint-packing coverage.
Too many of the Celtics’ 50 3-point attempts were contested, according to Udoka. Williams agreed.
“I think it’s about taking open looks, no matter what they are, trusting your shooting, trusting your process, because you can’t get jump-shot happy, I would say, taking contested ones or others that aren’t good for the team, but others you should definitely be confident taking,” said Williams. “You should never pass up an open 3. That’s something in the league that’s rare to get in general, so you’d better take those when you can. Outside of that, just being more aggressive, getting fouled being more physical. Those are probably the biggest things, making sure their pressure and intensity doesn’t speed us up.”