Celtics’ Marcus Smart expects to return from calf injury for Thursday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets
"As of right now, I will be playing in the game tomorrow."
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After a disastrous stretch, the Boston Celtics won four encouraging games before the All-Star Game, sending them into the break with a 19-17 record and a little momentum.
On Wednesday, the Celtics got some more positive news: Marcus Smart practiced fully with the team for the first time since he strained his calf on Jan. 30 and felt good. That clears the way for his return to action on Thursday as the Celtics travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets.
“It felt really good,” Smart said. “It was hard to really do stuff over the break, 5-on-5, stuff like that. So today was the first time it felt great. So they cleared me and said if today went well, I’m most likely going to play tomorrow unless something changed. But as of right now, I will be playing in the game tomorrow.”
From the sidelines, Smart witnessed the team slide below .500 in his absence. The Celtics hit their lowest point of the season on Feb. 24 when they were blown out by the Atlanta Hawks, capping a three-game losing streak.
The defensive struggles were particularly painful for Smart.
“Especially for me being a defensive guy, it really is tough,” he said. “Being able to sit over here, I have to look at it from a different perspective and when everyone is looking at the negatives, I’m looking at the positives. The things that we can control and fix that are very fixable and controllable and what I have to do to bring back that energy on the defensive end for us.”
Still, Smart made the most of his time. He spent time with his family and even added another dog to his household (he now has two).
“During the season usually, when everything’s back to normal, it was hectic even when you were hurt,” Smart said. “You still had things you had to do and prior arrangements that you had to adjust to. It’s tough because you can’t go to a meeting or go do a clinic or something like that that you might have possibly done when everything was normal. You have to look at more time to yourself and you can self-reflect. Like I said, focus on the things that are more important than just on the court.”
Now, however, the reflection is over. The Celtics had a net rating of 3.9 in their four straight wins after recording a -2.4 net rating in Smart’s absence. By way of comparison, the Utah Jazz — owners of the league’s best record — have a net rating of 11.4. The Celtics, who are currently fourth in the Eastern Conference, have a long way to go to make up the ground.
Smart feels good about their chances.
“This season took a lot of bumps and bruises,” he said. “Jayson [Tatum] was out with COVID. [Jaylen Brown] was out with the protocol. Kemba [Walker] was injured. Romeo Langford is still out with his wrist and just now coming back. Things like that. There’s a lot of factors into it, but there’s no excuse for you to go out there and give the effort. I think these guys know it. I think they feel it, they understand it. Like I said, there are a lot of factors that go into it. At least we have the second half of the season to make up for it.”
Brad Stevens said Smart will be on a minutes limit for “at least a couple of days,” but he acknowledged how impactful it could be to have another talented contributor on the floor.
“He’s a good player,” Stevens said. “He’s a guy that knows how to play, plays at both ends of the court, makes us better at both ends of the court, so obviously that’s going to help a ton.
“That said, I think we had a lot of guys step up and do some good things in his absence, especially in those last four games. When he went down, with the density of the schedule, knowing Kemba wasn’t going to play the second night of back-to-backs, knowing the toll that could potentially take on others, I thought our guys came out of it OK at the very end of that. But there’s no doubt we are better with him.”
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