Marcus Smart breaks out of shooting slump

Marcus Smart guards Philadelphia’s Ish Smith during Sunday’s game. USA Today Sports

By Brian Robb @CelticsHub

January 25, 2016

1 minute to read

Marcus Smart does a lot of things well for a second-year guard, but shooting from the perimeter this season has not been one of them.

The 21-year-old has struggled all year long from the 3-point line, making just 19 percent of his attempts (17-of-87) from beyond the arc entering Sunday’s game against the Sixers.

The woeful output inspired the reserve point guard to take advantage of Saturday’s snow day and get in some extra shooting at the Celtics practice facility in Waltham before the team headed to Philadelphia for the make-up contest.

“I really haven’t had time to get in and get up shots,’’ Smart said Saturday of the team’s busy January schedule. “That’s why I’m staying here right now. So this snow is actually a pretty good thing for me so I can get up shots.’’

The additional work paid immediate dividends on Sunday night, as Smart delivered his best 3-point shooting performance since November in Boston’s 112-92 win over Philadelphia. Smart scored 16 points off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting and also hit 50 percent of his shots from downtown (3 of 6).

“It was good to see him make some shots,’’ Brad Stevens admitted to reporters after the game. “He’s going to need to continue to shoot and make those shots.’’

The strong outing boosted Smart’s 3-point shooting percentage by two points for the year (to 21.5 percent), but the young guard still has plenty of work to do to match his rookie mark of 33 percent. If Smart can return to that adequate form by the end of the season, the team’s new small-ball look will stand to benefit in a big way.