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Marcus Smart played against the 76ers despite having a pinched nerve in his neck
Smart added that "if it starts to feel better, I’m definitely playing tomorrow."
The Celtics lost to the 76ers 103-101 on Tuesday night despite almost pulling off a miraculous move to tie the game in the final seconds.
The Red Sox also lost, falling 4-1 to the Pirates.
Both teams play again today. The Red Sox host the final game of a three-game series against Pittsburgh this afternoon at 1:35 p.m., and the Celtics face the Raptors at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.
An update from Marcus Smart: Following Tuesday’s loss to the 76ers, Marcus Smart revealed that he had played with a pinched nerve in his neck.
“Can barely turn my head to the left and it’s just stinging,” Smart told reporters, per MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “My lower left arm is going numb here and there, so just trying to play through it and be out there for my team. But it definitely hurts, so we’ll figure out what’s going on.”
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Smart, 29, ended up playing 30 minutes against Philadelphia, scoring 17 points. He also helped Boston come close to an incredible comeback.
The Celtics play again tonight, facing the Raptors at home. Smart said his status for the second game of the back-to-back remains questionable.
“I would not like to sit, but I’m not going to push it if this neck is giving me some serious problems like it was tonight to where every time down the court, I’m grabbing it,” Smart explained. “Then I’ll probably sit out and give it some time. But if it starts to feel better, I’m definitely playing tomorrow.”
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Trivia: Marcus Smart is one of only two players in Celtics history to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. Can you name the other?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He was a 15-time All-Star.
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Local highlight: Maddie Barkate scored a behind-the-back goal in Harvard lacrosse’s 13-6 win over Stonehill.
One for the career montage: Giannis Antetokounmpo made an especially impressive chase-down block in the Bucks win over the Wizards on Tuesday, even if the Wizards still got a bucket at the end of the sequence.
On this day: In 1959, the Celtics defeated the Minnesota Lakers 128-108 in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Bob Cousy paced Boston with a triple-double: 21 points, 15 assists, and 11 rebounds. Bill Russell pulled down a routinely remarkable 30 rebounds (adding nine points), and Bill Sharman led the Celtics with 28 points.
“The ball game was at no point a real contest,” remarked Globe reporter Jack Barry in his postgame recap. The Celtics, unimpressed by Minnesota, would go on to sweep the series for the team’s first of what would become an astounding eight consecutive titles.
Daily highlight: Ji-hwan Bae made an incredible catch, denying an openly shocked Rafael Devers.
Trivia answer: Kevin Garnett
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