Report: Marcus Smart Will Not Play In Team USA's Final 2 Games At FIBA World Cup
BOSTON (CBS) -- Team USA will not medal in this year's FIBA World Cup after suffering a disappointing loss to France on Wednesday, but they still have a few games to play. Marcus Smart will not be playing in those games, however.
The Celtics guard has been shut down for the remainder of Team USA's schedule to rest a pair of injuries he suffered during the tournament, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. An X-ray on Smart's left knuckle came back negative, but he's still dealing with soreness in that hand, in addition to quad soreness that hampered him last week.
Add it all up, plus mix in some meaningless consolation games, and Smart is done playing basketball until the Celtics open up training camp. That is great news for Boston fans, who are already worried about an ankle injury that kept Jayson Tatum out of Team USA's last four games.
Team USA fell to France, 89-79, in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, and will not capture a gold medal in international tournament play for the first time since 2006. They have two games remaining to determine fifth through eighth place in the tourney.
