Boston Celtics: Marcus Smart and the value of effort

Chaos. Energy. Combat muscles. Marcus Smart’s return could mark the beginning of the end of the first round series between the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks.

Marcus Smart welcomed himself back to the Boston Celtics lineup in a low scoring, bar fight of a ball game. In Boston’s 92-87 Game 5 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, Smart wasted no time diving on the floor and taking a few hits for the team.

Smart finished the game with the most unsurprising stat line of all time: Nine points (2-of-7 shooting, 5-of-5 from the foul line), five rebounds, four assists, three blocks, one steal, five turnovers and two fouls.

The numbers, as usual, are secondary to the effort, chaos and combat muscles that he brings to the court. The “switchability” that Brad Stevens lauded Semi Ojeleye for is two-fold for Smart, who took Khris Middleton out of his rhythm for the first time this series. The defensive tandem of Smart and Ojeleye also kept Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the post and limited him to 10 field goal attempts.

As a team, the Celtics are always up to the task to take on tough defensive assignments, but it’s the versatility of Smart that enables lineups to do what they want to do — switch everything. Prior to Smart’s return, most of those duties were on the shoulders of Jaylen Brown and Al Horford, with the occasional Ojeleye stint. Ojeleye played 31 minutes in Game 5 (one minute short of a career high) and Smart played 25, allowing the Celtics to have multiple switch-y players on the floor for all 48 minutes.

Meanwhile, Shane Larkin‘s minutes were down to 14, which is a playoff low.

Back on topic — the energy that Smart brought was what kept the game close. Sure, his impulse to launch heat-check 3s (without generating any heat that needed checking) may have kept it close too, but the payoff of his hustle cannot be understated.

Smart had the building going wild in the second quarter after a steal. 

They say a layup is worth just as much as a dunk. At least, that’s what Jaylen Brown told me in the least inspiring playoff promo I’ve ever seen:

Smart’s hustle is what I mean by “the value of effort,” and why this commercial that I shouldn’t care about is a big pile of nonsense. The home team has won every game this series, not unlike the last competitive series Boston played against Washington last year. Also, this:

I’m done with the debate over Marcus Smart’s value. The idea that his lack of scoring is too much of a liability to make up for his strengths is as good as debunked as far as I’m concerned. The Celtics have the best defense in basketball, and the numbers don’t do it any justice.

Defensive ratings and win shares are fun and all, but Smart’s effort alone can power the Celtics through the natural lulls of a basketball game – when nothing goes right on offense while everything goes wrong on defense (better known as the second quarter of Celtics games).

If any one player can overcome the disadvantage of playing on the road, it’s Marcus Smart.

The energy of the home crowd has dictated the outcome of each game, and one can only assume that the Celtics were out of rhythm in Milwaukee because of it.

Next: Full two-round 2018 NBA Mock Draft

No such thing will stop Marcus Smart. The offense could sputter out, but the defense will always be there, so the Celtics will have a chance. Celtics in six.