Boston Celtics: Life without Marcus Smart
The Boston Celtics announced Friday that Marcus Smart will be out for the next two weeks. Here is what life will look like for the team moving forward.
And so it continues — the injury bug does not want to leave the Boston Celtics. It feels as if the team is never playing at full strength. Every night, there’s a report that comes out saying that one player will be held out with an injury.
Lately, its been Al Horford and Kyrie Irving who have been held out of games these past few weeks. Mainly we have seen Marcus Morris‘ name continue to pop up, but it’s been a healthy few weeks for him so far.
After missing the previous game against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a hand injury, the Celtics have informed the public that Marcus Smart will be out after suffering a hand laceration. The injury comes as sort of an unusual one, seeing as it was not a game-related injury.
It’s been reported that he suffered the injury after swiping a picture frame in the hotel.
I want to take this time to express my sincerest apologies to my teammates, coaches, and most of all the amazing Boston Celtics fans. I'm embarrassed and disappointed in my actions. I swiped at and hit a picture frame on the wall. I feel like I let all y'all down
— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) January 26, 2018
It was known that he had to receive stitches after the injury, but no one knew the extent of what actually went down. Now that we know what happened, it’s time to look at how things will look over the next few weeks.
Sadly, this injury was just bad timing for the Celtics squad. Here’s a look at the schedule for the next two weeks. Potentially Smart could return to Feb. 11 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that game lands just a day outside of the two-week report if you’re going to base it off of Saturday, Jan. 27. For this scenario, we’re going to examine things as if he’s held out till after the Cleveland game.
| G | Date | Opponent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Sat, Jan 27, 2018 | 8:30p ET | 39-10 | @ | Golden State Warriors |
| 51 | Mon, Jan 29, 2018 | 9:00p ET | 25-23 | @ | Denver Nuggets |
| 52 | Wed, Jan 31, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 21-28 | New York Knicks | |
| 53 | Fri, Feb 2, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 14-33 | Atlanta Hawks | |
| 54 | Sun, Feb 4, 2018 | 12:00p ET | 26-22 | Portland Trail Blazers | |
| 55 | Tue, Feb 6, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 32-14 | @ | Toronto Raptors |
| 56 | Thu, Feb 8, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 26-22 | @ | Washington Wizards |
| 57 | Fri, Feb 9, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 26-22 | Indiana Pacers | |
| 58 | Sun, Feb 11, 2018 | 3:30p ET | 27-19 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/26/2018.
Right out of the gate the Celtics will have to face up against the dreaded Golden State Warriors, though earlier in the season we did see this team win an impressive game against the defending champs. The Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Indiana Pacers are games that are not going to be easy wins (if they win at all).
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The Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and the Cavaliers are not easy matchups. Sure, the Cavs and Wizards have had their struggles, but we’re not at the point of labeling them as easy-to-semi-hard matchups.
These next two weeks will be some of the hardest matchups the Celtics will have to face throughout the season. It appears the injury bug isn’t leaving anytime soon, which means these next two weeks could give way to even bigger turmoil.
Smart is arguably their best bench player, and losing him will take a huge toll on the Celtics. The team already has had its issues with bench production, currently ranking 23rd in the league in bench scoring at 31.8 points per game. There have been a few cases where Smart has started games, but his primary role has been to come off the bench.
Smart is averaging 10.1 points, 4.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. It’s not like he’s just some bench player who plays 15-20 minutes a game. Smart does average 30.3 minutes a night, and is a huge reason the Celtics and their league-leading defense are so successful. Not necessarily known for his offensive abilities, he’s easily one of the better defenders in the NBA.
Next: 5 ripples of the DeMarcus Cousins injury
The Celtics will surely miss his leadership, defensive ability and of course scoring over the course of the next two weeks. With the next two weeks not getting any easier and the poor bench output, Boston will surely be hurting over the next handful of games.