Marcus Smart Gets Some Redemption Against Kings
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Marcus Smart got a bit of redemption Monday night. Just over a week after the Celtics guard missed a last-second shot in Sacramento, a miss that ended Boston's 10-game win streak, Smart led the shorthanded C's to a victory over those very same Kings in Boston.
Jaylen Brown led the way with 24 points while Jayson Tatum added 20 of his own, but it was Smart who provided his usual late-game clutch plays to seal the victory. Smart scored Boston's final two baskets and made some critical defensive plays in the final minute of the seesaw affair, helping the Celtics escape with a 103-102 victory.
Both of Smart's shots were of the go-ahead variety, and one was eerily similar to the shot he missed two Sundays ago in Sacramento. With the game tied with under a minute to go, Smart drove from the three-point line before pulling up for an 18-foot fadeaway. The ball bounced off the front of the rim -- twice -- but this time it received a friendly bounce and fell through the hoop (a nudge from Red Auerbach, perhaps?). The bucket gave Boston a 101-99 lead.
"That was a good feeling," Smart said after the game. "When I shot it and I saw it on the rim again, I was like, 'Not again. I got to get it this time.' It felt good to finally see the ball finally go in and it's just ironic that it happened to bounce like that. This time I got it."
But that lead did not last. On Sacramento's ensuring possession, Bogdan Bogdanovic drained a three-pointer to put the Kings back in front, 102-101 with 39.8 seconds left. Feeling good about his offense, Smart was ready to take another game-winning shot.
He drove down the floor and ditched using the rim, this time going for a bank job off the backboard. After spinning out Corey Joseph, Smart used the glass to put the Celtics back on top, 103-102 with 31.1 seconds left.
Being Marcus Smart, his evening was not done. Smart is better known for his defensive peskiness, and the final 30 seconds of Monday's contest was full of that. The Celtics needed to preserve that slim one-point advantage, which was no certainty against a Kings team that just wouldn't go away on Monday -- not with Buddy Hield scoring a career-high 41 points.
After a Sacramento timeout, Smart poked the ball away from Bogdanovic as the Kings guard looked for Hield. Smart charged down the court and was blocked from behind by Hield as he tried to finish at the rim, though Hield should have been called for a foul on the play. Tatum bricked a three on Boston's following possession, which meant the Kings would have another shot at stealing another win from the Celtics with 5.7 seconds left.
But Bogdanovic's last-second three hit the back iron and the Celtics walked away with the victory, remaining undefeated inside TD Garden.
Smart finished his night with 17 points on an impressive 7-for-12 shooting, dishing out a team-high seven assists to go with his five steals. He played a team-high 36 minutes and did not turn the ball over once. Without Kemba Walker, it was the exact performance the Celtics needed.
It did, however, come at a bit of a cost. Smart has been banged up for the last few weeks, and added another injury to his growing list. He took the podium after the win with his left hand taped up, the result of jamming his left ring finger knuckle -- twice.
It's an injury Smart originally suffered during his time with Team USA over the summer. He said he jammed it early in the game, and then again on the last play.
"Right when I started to get the feel back for it, the last [shot] happened and it re-aggravated it again," he explained. "Everything's alright. Got it compressed and just going to evaluate it and see how it is."
He'll undergo X-rays on Tuesday, but believes he'll be fine. Asked which of his ailments hurts the most, Smart casually replied "everything." But that won't deter him from being Marcus Smart.
"I've played this way for my whole life and you kinda get used to it. And you kinda learn how to adapt and move on from it," he said.
There's little doubt that Smart will be back out there Wednesday night when the Celtics host the Brooklyn Nets, back to doing more Marcus Smart things for the Celtics.