Celtics notebook: Marcus Smart officially a no-go for Game 1 against the Bucks
He did travel with the team to Milwaukee, per Stevens.
MILWAUKEE — Celtics shooting guard Marcus Smart is officially out for Game 1 of his team’s second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The ruling comes as no surprise: Both coach Brad Stevens and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge reiterated throughout the week that Smart would be unavailable for at least Games 1 and 2. The 25-year-old is still recovering from a partially torn oblique muscle that he suffered in Boston’s penultimate regular-season game.
The initial timetable issued by the team estimated Smart would return to action in four to six weeks. Sunday, Game 1, marks the three-week point in his recovery.
Stevens and Ainge haven’t veered from the medical staff’s original projections — a stance Stevens doubled down on before tip-off Sunday.
“I haven’t gotten anybody come up and say, ‘Hey, he might play in Game 3,’” he said. “I don’t see any way that he’s available until whenever his timeline hits that we thought initially.”
Smart, at the very least, appears to be making significant progress. During the team’s practices since returning from Indiana, he has advanced from running on a treadmill to sprinting down the court, gradually added a little bit more bounce to his shot, and worked his way from eight-footers to three-point shots.
Though he will not be playing, Smart did travel with the team to Milwaukee.
Remembering Hondo
Like many, Ainge has fond memories of the late John Havlicek, who died Thursday night at the age of 79. Ainge, who was drafted by the organization three years after Havlicek had played his last game, said the eight-time NBA champ reached out to him during his rookie year when he wasn’t getting much playing time. A late addition to the team due to a fight for his contract rights with the Toronto Blue Jays, Ainge still remembers how Havlicek lifted him up during his bumpy start. “Things weren’t going great,” Ainge recalled before practice at the Auerbach Center on Friday. “He invited me to dinner, invited me to lunch, invited me to play golf, and just gave great advice and counsel: ‘Be patient, work hard.’ He was just a guy that really cared.” Havlicek didn’t have an official role with the Celtics at the time, but, per Ainge, “felt like [the two] had some things in common.” Those early conversations about basketball were just the start of a lasting bond between the two. From there, Ainge said he and his wife, Michelle, became good friends with Havlicek and his wife, Beth. The couples have even vacationed together. “He really was what everybody says,” Ainge said. “Just a great, humble, compassionate player and person and father and husband and all that. As great a player as he was, that’s what stands out when I think of John Havlicek.”The adulation, however, started well before their first meeting, as Havlicek was “a guy that [Ainge said he] truly admired as a player growing up.” After Havlicek hit a critical running bank shot against the Phoenix Suns in the second of three overtimes in Game 5 of the 1976 NBA Finals, Ainge said he recreated the moment several times on his driveway.
But no highlight can capture the essence of Havlicek, according to Ainge. On the court, he was relentless — a fact that’s reflected in the Celtics’ all-time leaderboards, where he sits above all in minutes played, points scored, and field goals made. Off the court, he was perhaps even more inimitable.
“His whole life is a highlight,” Ainge said. “Whatever business you’re in, everybody wants people like John Havlicek who outwork their opponents [and] push their players on their team to work harder by the example that they set and by being humble and respectful around them.”
Ainge said he didn’t get to say goodbye to his friend, despite multiple attempts to reach out. He plans to do his part in helping his legacy live on.
“His legend will live on with me forever, and whenever I get a chance to talk about John Havilcek and all the great things, I will,” he said.
JB at the B’s
Word circulating through TD Garden Thursday night was that Celtics forward Jaylen Brown would be the honorary banner captain for Game 1 between the Bruins and the Columbus Blue Jackets. But as the Bruins went through their typical pregame festivities, Brown was nowhere to be found. After the hype videos on the jumbotron fired up the crowd, the screen did not introduce Brown as the evening’s honorary banner captain. So, where was the 22-year-old swingman? Turns out he was dealing with a problem Bostonians know and love: traffic.
Brown ended up making his way out to the lower bowl just in time to wave the black-and-gold flag with Special Olympics athlete Beth Donahue. Wearing a customized No. 7 jersey, he motioned for the crowd to get louder and belatedly performed his duties with a smile on his face.
Game 1 marked the second Bruins game in three days for Brown. He, along with coach Brad Stevens and teammates Aron Baynes and Gordon Hayward, attended Game 7 of Boston’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Jaylen Brown attends Bruins-Blue Jackets Game 1.
Jaylen Brown attends Bruins-Blue Jackets Game 1.
