Boston Celtics: Should Marcus Smart Become A Starter Again?

Marcus Smart has played in only 10 games this season, starting eight. The Boston Celtics were 5-3 in those games, so does that mean he should become a starter again?

The Boston Celtics are currently 18-13, and they have gone 12-9 without Marcus Smart in the lineup. Smart was sidelined for three games in November due to a sprained left toe and he missed 18 games with a bruised left knee. Smart returned to the rotation in the Celtics’ last game against the New York Knicks.

He had six points, three rebounds, and one assist in 13 minutes coming off the bench. Coach Brad Stevens is not going to overplay Smart after coming off his knee injury, and since the Celtics have been playing good as of late, but Stevens did pull Smart off the court a little early to save him for later if they needed him on defense late in the game.

Currently Boston is on a four-game winning streak, with three of those games coming prior to Smart’s return on Sunday. Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas were the backcourt starters for most of Smart’s absence, and for the season they have both been terrific on offense.

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Thomas leads the team in scoring (20.7 points per game) and assists (6.8 per game), while Bradley has become one of the most reliable shooters on the team (39.6 percent from deep and 44.7 percent from the field). Bradley is also one of the best defenders on the team and the Celtics are currently second in the league in overall defensive rating (99.7).

Bradley and Thomas have added strong scoring in the backcourt while Smart has been out, and even when Smart was in the lineup, Bradley came off the bench and played really well (averaged 18.5 points per game coming off the bench in four games).

There is no doubt that Boston is been playing well without Marcus Smart in the lineup, but it might take some time to find out whether or not Smart should be put back in the starting lineup.

Marcus Smart Will Play Many Minutes No Matter What

Smart is still going to play a lot when is 100 percent back to full health, even though he might not be in the starting lineup. It is hard to have either Thomas or Bradley coming off the bench because of how good they have both been together in the starting lineup.

Thomas is the go-to scorer for the Celtics and there is no question about that and Bradley is one of the most reliable three-point shooters on the team and lockdown defenders. Smart does add great defense, hustle, and physicality on both ends of the floor, but he has been shooting horrible from the field when he has played.

He is shooting 33.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from three, which not very good at all. Yes, it is a small sample size seeing that he has only played in 10 games, but his poor shooting is unacceptable for a player that averages 27.5 minutes per game when healthy.

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In the end, Smart should keep coming off the bench while Boston continues to find a rhythm with their current starting lineup. Smart might make his way into the starting lineup in the future, but it should not matter because he still going to play big crunch-time minutes for the Celtics this season because of his great defense and passion on both ends of the floor.