The Celtics didn’t necessarily 'need’ Friday’s win over the Warriors from a big-picture perspective, but it was certainly a game they couldn’t afford to give away if they wanted to have a successful west coast trip. The road to wins will get much tougher against the likes of Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard and Nikola Jokic instead of Ky Bowman and Willie Cauley-Stein.
Despite struggling for the better half of 48 minutes at the Chase Center, the C’s played with a veteran poise down the stretch while pulling out a 105-100 victory with several familiar themes taking shape. Kemba Walker (14 of 20 points) saved his best for the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown (22 points) continued his productive scoring ways by scoring over 20 points in his fourth consecutive game. Jayson Tatum (24 points) delivered winning plays when it counted.
Yet, the Celtics’ offense struggled to remain afloat for the better part of the first three quarters despite facing a woeful Warriors defense. Walker started 1-of-11 shooting and Tatum was shooting sub 30 percent from the field at one point even after a hot shooting second quarter. With points tough to come by on the road, one familiar face was delivering all game long yet again from the perimeter: Marcus Smart.
The sixth-year guard knocked down 5-of-9 3-point attempts on Friday night to chip in with 15 points in 35 minutes. It was his fourth consecutive game making four or more 3-point attempts, helping lift his accuracy to 40.8 percent on the season despite taking 6.9 attempts per game.
The days of Garden fans groaning when Smart takes 3s should be long gone after he made 36 percent last year but what Smart is trending towards right now is something special for a guy who is already a first-team All-NBA defensive weapon for this team. Through 11 games, Smart is not only turning into a high volume shooter from 3 (6.9 attempts per game rank 16th in the NBA), he’s also been one of the best high volume shooters around the league.
In fact, among players who have taken 6.9 or more attempts per game, Smart currently ranks fourth in accuracy behind Kemba Walker and Kyle Lowry, ahead of such names as James Harden, Damian Lillard and Buddy Hield.
That type of efficiency has been essential to the C’s 10-game winning streak as they have been able to count on 10-15 points per game from Smart thanks to this outside shooting which has all come within the flow of the offense.
On Friday night, it’s hard to point out a bad shot in any of his nine field-goal attempts from deep. He is finding his spots with a veteran savvy, whether it’s floating up to the 3-point line in transition or waiting there for a kick-out on an offensive rebound attempt. Four of his makes on Friday came in these types of situations as opponents clearly haven’t adjusted yet to his improved output.
Thank you, @smart_MS3 ? that's what we need pic.twitter.com/l6jtaEFbeS
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 16, 2019
TALK THAT SHIT MARCUS pic.twitter.com/FobQFkRW4S
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) November 16, 2019
Marcus Smart with another 3! He is now 5/9 ? pic.twitter.com/g086O92Bib
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 16, 2019
