It's the evening of January 23rd in Los Angeles. The Boston Celtics are in town to face the Lakers and looking to start off their four-game West Coast trip on a high note after dropping three straight games at home. The Celtics were trailing 108-105 with 11.6 seconds remaining in regulation when Terry Rozier blew by Julius Randle with an impressive move and got to the bucket for 2 to cut the deficit to 1 point.
With no timeouts remaining, the Celtics are forced to a commit a quick foul off the inbound, which sends Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the free throw line. Caldwell-Pope proceeds to miss both of his free throws and the rebound gets pulled down by Celtics guard Marcus Smart with 5.6 seconds remaining. Before anyone in the Staples Center could process what had happened, Smart flew down the court and took a deep, step-back 3 which clanked off the rim as time expired. Smart, who was admittedly having an excellent game on the offensive end of the floor (22 points, 8 assists in 33 minutes), was visibly upset after missing the shot that secured the Celtics their 4th straight loss and his decision to take the shot when a certain superior shooter (Kyrie Irving) had a better look prompted collective sighs and groans from the contingent of Celtics fans nearly 3,000 miles away that stayed up until 1 AM EST to watch the conclusion of the game.
News broke the following afternoon that Smart was expected to be out for 2-4 weeks with a hand injury. It was later revealed that Smart suffered the injury after punching a glass picture frame in his hotel room following the loss to the Lakers and considering the amount of glass that was stuck in his hand, his doctors were surprised that he didn't sustain any tendon damage that likely would've required season-ending surgery. This sudden off-court injury also removed Smart from the trading block, where the impending restricted free agent reportedly generated some interest.
During Smart's 11-game absence, question marks started to swirl around his team. The Smart-less Celtics limped into the All-Star break by allowing 105.6 points game (up from 98.3 in the prior 48 games), displaying visibly less effort than they were earlier in the season and struggling to move the ball around on offense. There was a popular train of thought in league circles that teams had finally figured out how to gameplan against the Celtics and their largely young roster was starting to hit a wall after a remarkable 34-10 start.
When examining this slump by the Celtics, you have to start by looking at their vulnerabilities on defense without Smart in their lineup. Brad Stevens' scheme calls for players to be in the right place at the right time, to know their role and trust their teammates to fulfill theirs. It's not about making the extra effort when called upon, it's about putting forth your best effort every time you hit the floor. Even in the relentless grind that is the NBA season, Marcus Smart manages to deliver on that front every single night. Smart doesn't just want to guard you when he's on the floor, he wants to eat you. Whether he meets you at half court or hugs you for the length of the floor, you know you're in a frustrating night at the office (just ask James Harden).
This consistent fight Smart displays allow him to impact the game in ways that stats don't reflect and not having that pest-like presence on the floor was highly detrimental to the Celtics overall play.
A perfect example of Smart's worth comes on the constant switch defense the Celtics utilize on most high pick-and-rolls. Their constant ball pressure combined with the underrated luxury of having a group of bigs (Al Horford, Daniel Theis, Semi Ojeyele) that possess the athleticism to switch out to defend guards when needed have helped them allow the lowest FG% (37.2) against pick-and-roll ballhandlers in the league. Without Smart in the lineup, they lacked the hard-nosed guard with size that can man-up the other team's roll man and that allowed their opponents to explode to the basket with minimal resistance during his absence.
While Smart's primarily known as an aggressive, lockdown defender, his impact doesn't end there. Offense has been the Celtics crutch this season, as they currently rank in the bottom half of the league in every major category except 3-pointers made (728, 3rd in the NBA) and 3 point FG% (37.1%, 4th in the NBA). Amidst all of the inconsistency and inefficiency they've displayed on that end of the floor, Smart has been a bright spot. Smart's shooting woes (36.3 FG%, 29.5 3P%) are well-documented, but he's still averaging just over 10 points per game and his nearly 5 assists per night has offered a huge boost to the second unit. Given the fact that Celtics bench is otherwise comprised of inexperienced role players (Abdel Nader, Shane Larkin, Guerschon Yabusele), an inefficient veteran isolation shooter (Marcus Morris) and only one other natural ballhandler that can create his own shots and get his teammates involved (Rozier), that production simply couldn't be replicated in his absence.
Fast forward to Smart's return to the team last Friday in Detroit and the team looked like their old selves almost immediately. With three straight victories since returning from the All-Star Break, Smart's worth to the Celtics is very clear. While it's clearly a sample size, Smart's rugged style of play has been a breath of fresh air on a team that sorely lacked toughness and aggression when he was on the shelf.
As a Celtics fan, I'll admit that his sometimes questionable decisionmaking can make him infuriating to watch, but his consistent tenacity, heart and hustle makes up for every boneheaded thing he's ever done on the court. He's an undeniable leader on this young Celtics team and I fully expect his teammates to rally around his toughness as they try to regain the top seed in the East from a very talented Toronto Raptors squad in the final 22 games of the regular season. As long as Smart can remain healthy, I expect him to play the best basketball of his career over the next few months and help give the Celtics a legitimate shot of overthrowing LeBron and the Cavailers in the playoffs.
Thanks for reading. If you're interested in more Celtics and NBA news, make sure to follow me on Twitter @JohnNygrenBOS. If you'd like to reach out with a comment or question, feel free to email me at johnnynygren@gmail.com
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