It took Marcus Smart all of three minutes to place his fingerprints on Wednesday’s win over the Pistons, his first recreation since struggling an ankle sprain nearly 4 weeks in the past.
Here’s how you might inform: two assists, two steals and a sure pep within the Celtics’ step as they began to cruise to a 127-109 blowout earlier than the All-Star break.
“I think we missed (Smart) a lot,” interim coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned post-game. “We missed his joy.”
Smart’s pleasure proved infectious, as he completed with 9 factors, seven boards, six assists and a half-dozen steals. Three different Celtics, together with Jayson Tatum, dished out at the least six assists. Smart discovered Tatum on his third helper, a chic pocket go he threaded between two defenders after Tatum had slipped a display on a center pick-and-roll and took off for the ring.
Tatum caught the ball, flushed it, and Smart turned again up court docket flashing a well-recognized grin with 8:40 nonetheless left within the first quarter.
“It just felt like I hadn’t missed a beat,” Smart mentioned.
Defensively, Smart walked into a pair steals early, then picked a number of Piston pockets within the second half. He additionally transformed a third-quarter steal right into a one-man transition rating as Detroit threatened to shut the hole in a recreation Boston by no means trailed. Smart’s defensive effort helped the Celtics decrease the Pistons’ small edges in factors off quick breaks and turnovers, whereas his teammates bombed away from 3-point vary to bury their guests.
“Defensively, I think it was clear,” Malcolm Brogdon mentioned of Smart’s influence. “I think he made some tremendous defensive plays that really got us going and helped turn the game around when they were getting momentum, and we pushed the lead when he was in.”
“It was great,” Blake Griffin added. “Defensively, he just does things that nobody else can really do. I mean he and (Derrick) White could do things that constantly amaze you on the defensive end. Offensively, too, but defensively they are special.”
Offensively, Smart restored a sure connective tissue that had weakened in his absence. While White supplied a scoring increase in his place (averaging greater than 20 factors per recreation), the Celtics ranked 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio over the three-plus weeks Smart was lacking. That marked a steep drop-off from their No. 1 rating from the beginning of the season by Jan. 21, when Smart twisted his ankle towards Toronto.
As he rehabbed and watched the crew go 6-5 with out him, Smart recognized the wrongdoer behind their sagging offense.
“We have so much talent that sometimes we allow that to pick up some of the slack that we have, where things get stale and … we shrink the floor on ourselves and make it a lot harder on ourselves,” he mentioned. “Just really finding ways to make sure to keep the offense spaced and get great shots at all times.”
Spacing was hardly a problem towards the punchless Pistons, who watched the Celtics fireplace nearly half their 92 photographs from 3-point vary and hit 46.7% of them. Mazzulla pointed to tempo as one more reason why Boston’s offense remained in excessive gear. As the Celtics collected defensive rebound after defensive rebound, there was a sure spirit about them as they pushed the ball up-court repeatedly, a zeal, if you’ll.
Because most of the time, there was, with the ball in his arms, Marcus Smart.
“While he was out, Derrick (White) and Malcolm (Brogdon) made a recommitment to the first eight seconds of the shot clock, and tonight Smart joined in on that,” Mazzulla mentioned. “And he does a great job finding that cross-match early and finding that advantage early, but it starts with his joy and energy there.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com