WALTHAM, Mass. – After practice, often you’ll find Marcus Smart, Gerald Green and Jaylen Brown playing a game of one-on-one with the winner scoring one basket and the loser then being replaced by the third player waiting.
More days than not, Smart has emerged as the winner.
“It’s the kind of thing Gerald and I do and Jaylen started joining,” Smart said moments after winning. “Just to get better, one-on-one offense, one-on-one defense, creating your own shot.”
But lately, Smart has made a point of creating shots for others, which has been among the factors that has helped the Celtics (9-8) win three of their past four games.
In that span, Smart has averaged 6.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, which speaks to his ability to contribute in a multitude of ways off the Celtics bench.
“That part, it’s always been a part of me. It’s just now on a bigger scale,” Smart said. “A lot of guys I’m playing with are a lot better than guys I used to play with; these guys are pros so they been here a while longer, they’re more experienced, they know what they’re doing. And these guys are knocking down shots. I’m just giving them the ball.”
While Smart’s willingness to pass more has certainly helped a Celtics offense that has been among the NBA’s best this season, it’s also a means by which he can stay on the floor during what has been a slump of sorts for him shooting the ball.
In the past four games, Smart has shot a woeful 24.3 percent from the field.
But again, his defense, his rebounding and his passing have been to some degree able to keep him on the floor for Boston.
“When he comes off the bench or starts, he plays with such great intensity that you feel good about that level of intensity is going to continue,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “And if not, you feel like you’re going to raise your energy.”
Smart has shown a knack for doing just that, even when asked to guard players significantly taller or longer than him, which happens throughout the course of every game when Stevens decides to go with a small-ball lineup that has the 6-foot-4 Smart shifting over to playing small forward.
“He’s a combo guard, but at the same time he’s physical and strong enough that he can match up with some [bigger] guys,” Stevens said.
In the past week we’ve seen Smart match up with 6-8 Andrew Wiggins of Minnesota and, on Friday, San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard, who is also 6-8.
“We’re going to need him to guard bigger guys,” Stevens said.
And continue to find teammates when he’s on the floor akin to what Smart has done the past four games.
“When Smart has the ball with that small lineup, you have Jae [Crowder], Avery [Bradley] and Isaiah [Thomas] around it, there’s a reason why Al [Horford] is open right on the rolls? Those guys are all really good shooters and guys you want to be around so he’s going to have the ball a lot with that group.”
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