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Marcus Smart advocated for Celtics to sign Isaiah Thomas: 7 takeaways as Celtics fall to Warriors
"Especially that second half, the way we played, it felt good."
Here are the takeaways as the Celtics mounted a resilient but ultimately fruitless effort against the Warriors in a 111-107 loss on Friday.
1. When they look back at Friday’s game, the Celtics might be most haunted by a play at the end of the first half. With the final seconds ticking off the clock, Steph Curry took an inbounds pass and launched a shot from well beyond half-court. Curry’s momentum carried him forward, and Marcus Smart ran into him while contesting the shot.
The officials awarded Curry three shots, and Ime Udoka picked up a technical pleading Smart’s case. Curry canned all four free throws, and — because of course they did — the Warriors won by four points.
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The call was a tough one. On the one hand, Curry did appear to kick out in a way the league has banned for shooters. On the other, it was natural momentum from shooting that carried him forward, leading to his collision with Smart.
The four free throws broke up a nice stretch for the Celtics, after they cut into what had once been a 20-point lead.
“They said it was a foul,” Ime Udoka said. “It was a tough one to give up, obviously, when you work your way back into the game, so we were all disappointed with that. Leave it at that.”
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“The guy shoots from anywhere on the court,” Smart added. “We just wanted to challenge him and get a contest. Nothing crazy. Not sellout. Just something light. And I got called for a foul. Don’t know what else to say.”
2. The larger issue for the Celtics was, of course, Curry himself. In the first half, Curry cracked the Celtics’ defense even when it stayed with him — his step-back triple against Aaron Nesmith was nasty, and completely unguardable by Nesmith short of taking off his shoe and throwing it.
Curry finished 8-for-21 and just 5-for-14 from 3-point range with 30 points — acceptable but unremarkable totals from him — but he burned the Celtics down the stretch and forced them into tough choices (such as leaving Andre Iguodala completely unguarded). Good luck to anyone facing the Warriors once Klay Thompson returns.
3. We’ve reached a point where it was evident how much the Celtics missed Grant Williams’ spacing. Williams — who, along with Al Horford and Jabari Parker, is in health and safety protocols — offers more room to operate and might have helped open up the Warriors’ staunch half-court offense a little more.
As an aside, one wonders how comfortable the Warriors felt playing a game against a team with a building caseload.
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4. If you needed it, here’s a visual explanation as to why Jayson Tatum needs floor spacers — and especially a star like Jaylen Brown.
“It’s great to have him back, obviously,” Tatum said after the game. “He looks like he’s moving better, and he’s feeling better and just being that dynamic, all-around basketball player that he is. As time goes on and we keep playing more games and hopefully we both can stay on the floor, it looks like it’s trending up.”
5. Aaron Nesmith had a nice night — 3-for-8 from the floor with 11 points and some noteworthy defensive plays.
After the game, Marcus Smart called Nesmith “Crash” when he described getting hit by the second-year guard. A reporter asked if “Crash” was Nesmith’s real nickname.
“Yeah, it is,” Smart said, grinning broadly. “Bandicoot.”
6. Celtics fans who have watched this team all year are probably sick of hearing why they should be encouraged after losses, so we won’t do that here.
Still, Friday’s loss was not an indictment of this team, or even a meaningful negative. The Warriors improved to 24-5 with the win — they are one of the league’s best teams with an exclamation point. Curry stung the Celtics early but their defense bounced back, and the third quarter was one of their best defensive stretches of the season.
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And, again, the Celtics were without Horford and Williams. They have looked a little listless at times this year, but Friday’s performance had merits.
“We had a chance,” Tatum said. “We gave ourselves a chance with the group we had available, and especially that second half, the way we played, it felt good.”
7. Isaiah Thomas made his Lakers debut to a standing ovation in Minnesota on Friday. Immediately upon checking in, Thomas helped the Lakers build a better pace, and midway through the third quarter, he had seven points after working his way to the line six times.
Marcus Smart said he tried to convince the Celtics to sign Thomas.
“There’s only so much I can do,” Smart said. “In the end, it’s a business on that part. But like I said, I’m just proud of him. the adversity he’s been going through, he’s continued to triumph and continued to fight through it. That’s my dog, so big shout out to IT. It’s all love.”
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