Marcus Smart will go through practice on Sunday ahead of Game 4

Most of the Celtics had the day off today in Brighton on the heels of a 123-116 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night at the TD Garden. Marcus Smart remained hard at work at the Auerbach Center, however, inching closer to a potential return in this best-of-seven series.

“I have not heard if he completed a workout today,” Brad Stevens said on a conference call Saturday. “When he came through, I did not hear if he got on the court.”

Stevens has remained coy with the media for much of the past two weeks as Smart has ramped up the intensity of his workouts on the court while recovering from his partially torn oblique. Sunday will mark the four-week anniversary of the initial injury and the start of a potential return window (four-to-six weeks) that the team initially announced as a target for his return to basketball activities.

“All indication is he will go through our practice,” Stevens said of the Sunday schedule. “I’m writing up our practice plan now, and I don’t have any live drills on it, so if he does something, it’ll probably be before or after practice if that’s his next step.”

With only one rest day in between Games 4-6, any return will likely have to come for Smart without full scrimmaging against his teammates. The head coach talked about the plan for Smart's extended activity on Friday morning.

“I would say he’s probably going to be able to do 3-on-3 or 4-on-4,” Stevens said. “And then I don’t even know if we’ll be able to get him into 5-on-5 contact before a game.”

BSJ Analysis: The sense of urgency is higher than ever for the Celtics facing what is essentially a must-win Game 4 on their home floor, which will create a bit of a conundrum of how to handle Smart for Stevens and the coaching staff. Given how lackluster the Celtics perimeter defense has been over the last two games, an early return by Smart would certainly help to right the ship on that front and cut off some of the dribble penetration that has led to easy looks and open 3s for the likes of George Hill and Khris Middleton all series.

On the flip side, Smart is bound to be rusty after a month off and would create a bit of a squeeze within the Celtics' playing rotation, even if he is cleared to play. Given Boston's troubles with creating consistent offense and ball movement over the last couple of games, an additional ballhandler on the floor with a defensive mindset would provide a chance of pace for Boston, even with the potential drawbacks. Smart has been so essential all year long for this group and an early return was just as crucial in the first round last year against Milwaukee for the final three games of the series.  Even if Smart can't give the Celtics what they are looking for, it's worth a shot for simply the morale boost.

Brogdon status remains unclear for Game 4

The Bucks had the day off on Saturday in Boston but starting guard Malcolm Brogdon got in another workout as he inches closer to a return of his own. He has missed the last 20 games with a torn plantar fascia.

“We’re going to continue to make sure Malcolm, when he is ready, that he feels great both physically and mentally,” Mike Budenholzer told reporters on the call. “We look forward to him being back at some point. I can’t tell you if it’s going to be Game 4 or when it will be.”