Video breakdown: Marcus Smart's passing exhibition vs Houston Rockets

Evan Fournier's explosion and Robert Williams' 20-point, 9-rebound, 8-assist masterpiece were the two biggest storylines of the Boston Celtics' win over the Houston Rockets. The Celtics' ball movement, which generated a season-high-tying 35 assists was also a big topic, but 10 of those assists belonged to Marcus Smart, whose passing in this game has largely gone undiscussed.

That's a shame, because Smart put on a passing clinic against the Rockets. It's one worth discussing and breaking down.



The Celtics opened up in this set play. By starting Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker in the left corner, the Celtics opened up some space for what looked like a regular ol' pick-and-roll with Jayson Tatum and Williams.

Smart coming up takes advantage of Houston's defensive coverage. Smart's defender is supposed to deter the roll man, Williams, from getting to the hoop as two guys blitz Tatum. Tatum's pass to Smart clears that defender out of that space, allowing Williams a clear path to the rim. Smart's touch pass is perfect.



Houston went into a 2-3 zone for a short stretch. The textbook way to break a 2-3 zone is to send someone to the free-throw line, exactly where Smart went, to collapse the defense.

I like Smart in this role because he can hit this shot (which he did later in the game), but the key here is to get someone who can both hit the shot and make the pass.

Smart sort of throws a shot fake and pass at the same time. The key to this pass is the placement, knowing the defenders on that back line are small and won't get to a pass thrown up high, where Williams' reach and quick hops can easily catch, gather, and score.

Bonus points to Williams for the good footwork and quick change of direction. Nice recognition.



This might be my favorite play of the game. It started with Tatum giving the ball up and then the ball swinging around back to him. When a coach says "trust your teammates," this is the play to highlight because Tatum gave it up and was rewarded with a wide open 3.

What's special about this Smart pass? Well, that it was a pass at all. That could have been justified as an open corner 3-pointer, but the swing was the right play.



I feel like a siren needs to go off every time the Celtics execute a backdoor cut. To be fair, the double big lineups to start the season pretty much took that option away. Now that things are opening up with an extra floor-spacer, Boston can start exploring the studio space.

The first thing to watch here is Brown heading to the corner, which takes a defender away. The second is Williams coming over to set the pick. This sets up the read from Tatum, and the reaction from Smart.

They could have run the play through, which would have been Tatum catching the pass off the Williams pin-down, Williams rolling to the basket, and then either a Tatum shot or an alley oop to Williams. Tatum sees the defensive overplay and cuts backdoor instead.

Smart is right on point with the reaction. He sees the cut on Tatum's second step, and fires a perfect alley oop.



This pass is almost like competing in the NFL Pro Bowl quarterback competition. The pass looks easy, but there's one lane to get this pass between those two defenders and it was closing fast here.



Smart was excellent at pushing the ball for transition opportunities in this game.

Professional athletes are basically doing calculus in their brains every time they play in a game. This play from Smart is both simple and complicated in a similar way as the previous one. He's getting the ball and, in a half second, spotting Tatum, leading him with a pass, and putting the ball in a place where the defender has no chance to be a factor.

https://twitter.com/taylorcsnow/status/1378150454077632512

Smart is so hoping official Ashley Moyer-Gleich can hand him the ball ASAP so he can get the ball out to Tatum.

He sees the dejected Rockets stumbling back after a 24-second violation. He sees Tatum just drifting by the 3-point line. By the time he gets the ball, it's the third time he's looked juuust to make sure this is real.



Smart uses the pick from Fournier but the second he turns the corner, he knows the paint touch is going to leave Grant Williams open in the corner. By getting the ball out so quickly, he gets Williams an uncontested look at a 3.

Smart has had a rough season, and his game against the New Orleans Pelicans was about as bad a game as Smart has had.

But this game against Houston was a passing masterpiece. Yes, it's the Houston Rockets, but Smart made up for a bad day by putting on a passing clinic.