BOSTON – One of the reasons Marcus Smart has been such a high impact defensive player for the Boston Celtics is because of his timing.
So it only makes sense that Smart, who has struggled mightily with his shot most of this season, would find his stride on the eve of the playoffs.
The second-year guard was one of the few positives the Celtics could took away from their 118-107 loss at Atlanta on Saturday, providing hope that Boston can close out the regular season and go into the playoffs with momentum.
Smart had one of his better all-around games on Saturday, leading Boston in scoring with 19 points, which included 4-for-6 shooting on 3s. You don’t bank on Smart shooting that well or scoring that amount of points on a night-in, night-out basis.
But for both him and the Celtics to see so many long-range shots go down along with his usual in-your-face defense, was encouraging with Boston’s postseason journey beginning in about a week.
For weeks, Celtics coach Brad Stevens as well as Smart and his teammates felt his shots would start falling sooner rather than later.
In Boston’s last three games, Smart has shot 52.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent on 3s. During that span he has also averaged 11.3 points, 5.3 assists and 3.3 rebounds along with 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots.
Boston Celtics
But it was Smart’s shooting of late that has really stood out when you consider he shot just 14 percent from 3-point range in the month of March.
In the five games this month, Smart is connecting on 36.8 percent of his 3s, which if he maintains that percentage, would represent his best month of shooting 3s this season.
Smart maintains that his calling card remains being a lockdown defender, but he acknowledged following the Hawks loss that it felt good to see some of his shots go down.
“No doubt. I have to give credit to my teammates,” Smart told reporters. “They were driving the paint, driving the lane. They were finding me when I was open.”
And performances like the one he had on Saturday may result in fewer wide open looks for Smart who doesn’t register too high on the list of scoring concerns by opponents when putting their scouting report together on the Celtics.
Because for all the positives that Smart brings to the floor, teams are more and more willing to leave him open or lightly contested if it means keeping the ball out of the hands of Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder or Boston’s top scorer Isaiah Thomas.
And despite his struggles, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens remains confident that Smart will rise to the occasion more often than not when the opportunity to make a difference-making play presents itself.
“He’s going to have his moments and stretches just like anybody else,” Stevens said. “When a prideful guy feels challenged, that’s probably a good thing. He’s prideful. He’ll figure that stuff out. He’ll make big ones. He always makes winning plays. He’s an important part of our team.”