After suffering a quad contusion and shoulder stinger in Game 1, Ime Udoka shares an update on how Marcus Smart is feelin ahead of Game 2
There are few moments that sum up the Marcus Smart Experience quite like Game 5 of the Bucks-Celtics series from the 2018 playoffs. After missing nearly six weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, Smart came off the bench during his playoff return and, less than a minute into his first stint, launched himself onto the Garden parquet trying to corral a loose ball.
Smart only knows one way to play. And bumps and bruises — or still-healing ligaments — have rarely deterred him from helping his team when the stakes are the highest.
Which is why it’s hard to imagine that Smart won’t be out there when the Celtics and Bucks resume their 2022 first-round series with Tuesday’s Game 2 at TD Garden.
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Smart is listed as questionable after suffering a pair of thigh bruises in Sunday’s Game 1 defeat. The shoulder stinger that sent him to the locker room late in the first half of that same game isn’t an issue but coach Ime Udoka admitted that Smart’s contusion is “pretty bad” and suggested the team will wait to see how he responds to treatment before finalizing his Game 2 status.
Smart was clearly hobbled by the bruises during the second half of Game 1. He missed four of the five shots he took over the final two quarters and committed three turnovers. Still, Boston’s anemic offense had some of its most efficient second-half minutes despite Smart’s ailments.
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But how can the Celtics compensate if Smart isn’t his typical self if he tries to gut it out in what’s now essentially a must-win Game 2?
The four remaining starters -- Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Robert Williams — have played a mere 79 minutes this season without Smart. The good news: Boston had a robust plus-17.2 net rating in those minutes, including an eye-popping 126.4 offensive rating.
Now the bad news: The majority of those minutes came with Dennis Schroder in place of Smart earlier this season. In fact, only 2 of those 79 Smart-less minutes featured trade deadline acquisition Derrick White on the court with the other core starters.
The Celtics can lean heavier on Tatum and Brown as primary playmakers, though the Bucks thrived in Game 1 by putting increased pressure on Boston’s ball-handlers. Milwaukee often picked up full court and forced Boston to initiate offense later in the shot clock than it preferred.
Udoka hinted the team could utilize some of its bigs like Al Horford to help bring the ball up and initiate offense since the Bucks prefer to keep their bigs near the basket and deter drives.
Despite their offensive struggles on Sunday, the Celtics had the NBA’s best offense (120.2 rating) over the final 35 games after Smart returned from a bout with COVID on January 23.
White and fellow backup guard Payton Pritchard were a combined 4-of-14 shooting in Game 1. White had the lone assist totaled by Boston’s primary reserves in more than 56 total minutes of floor time for that three-man group (including Grant Williams).
White knows Boston’s ball-handlers have to react better to Milwaukee’s pressure and not get sped up.
"I think I can do a better job of just being more steady,” said White. “They picked the pressure up, picked us up full-court, so just being able to steady it and get us into our offense, get us into something each and every time down and not let that affect us. That’s the first time people have guarded us like that since I’ve been here, so just an adjustment that we’re gonna have to make.”
Boston’s offensive woes put the focus on that side of the ball but having a limited Defensive Player of the Year wouldn’t help Boston’s cause either. Bucks players defended by Smart took only five total shots during Game 1 — a jarring number on its own — all while accounting for three turnovers and just one assist. Smart drew a game-high two charges.
Boston’s best version of itself includes Smart. And the Bucks get that much more difficult if Smart is anything less than his usual self.
