Marcus Smart walked into the press conference area to wait his turn with the media while Ime Udoka was still answering questions. At about that moment, Udoka was asked about the impact of losing Smart.
“We don’t even really need Marcus, honestly,” he said, drawing a laugh from his point guard in the back of the room.
The Celtics obviously do, despite the way Game 2 went. Milwaukee will make their adjustments for Game 3 and having Smart there will help quickly sniff things out. Derrick White, despite his 0-6 shooting, played well in other areas of the game, but that's very valuable coming off the bench to maintain that ball movement and defense.
The good news is that Smart seems heading in the right direction.
“A strong likelihood I should be back for Game 3,” Smart said. “We’re just dealing with the last part of it, and that’s getting that restriction off the knee and the joint. So I feel once that goes away, I should be back to myself, because everything else is healing up the right way and that’s the last part.”
Smart’s injury was in the spot in the lower right quad that ended up costing him time earlier this season. The placement of the bruise caused the swelling and fluid to impact his knee, which is keeping him from bending down fully and getting into a defensive stance. That's sort of necessary for the Defensive Player of the Year.
“That’s where the majority of it is and what’s keeping me back,” Smart said. “It’s kind of hard to be able to go out there and play if you can’t do that, so once we can get the fluid off of it, everything else will be alright.”
Luckily for Smart and the Celtics, the series is on an extended 3-day break as the NBA lines up their TV dates. That not only gave the team time to get off their feet, it gave Smart extra time to accelerate the healing process.
“Marcus was in the gym yesterday, on an off day for the rest of our team, and got in some work in the weight room and looked like he had a little bit better bend,” Brad Stevens said on his weekly radio appearance. “That knee looked like he was doing a little bit better yesterday. … we'll see as the days go on. We're hopeful.”
If Smart returns for Game 3 on Saturday afternoon, it won’t mean that he’s 100%. It will just mean that he has regained the necessary range of motion in his knee. The pain will still be there, and the stiffness is something he’ll have to work through.
“Just play through it,” he said. “It’s like a Charlie horse on the quad. It’s just, I guess, an over-exaggerated one because of the spot where it is and the fluid being in the area. You want to be very, very cautious of that.”
SMART’S TIPS FOR GUARDING GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO
Antetokounmpo loves to spin his way into the lane. He’s huge and agile, which makes the move lethal most times.
It’s also prone to offensive fouls if a team can scout and time it correctly. Without Khris Middleton’s spacing, and with Boston’s overall defensive scheme, Antetokounmpo’s spin is something the Celtics might invite.
The only time he did it in Game 2 resulted in a turnover.
After the play, during a timeout, Smart was on the sidelines with Robert Williams, who was involved in causing that turnover, explaining how Antetokounmpo likes to spin, and when and how to step in to take contact.
“Just really telling him to embrace the bump, take the hit,” Smart explained. “Don’t be afraid to be physical. Giannis is a physical player, so you have to take that bump and just not give him that space. You have to hold your ground. That’s what Al and Grant does a good job very well at, so just telling Rob the same thing and trying to help him out on that end.”
Smart’s gesturing on the sideline was clearly explaining how to take that bump in the chest, which is something Smart obviously does well when he’s drawing a charge. Of all three bigs Boston has used in big minutes so far, Robert Williams has had the most trouble with Giannis’ physicality.
“Obviously there’s great pointers you can give people – but at the end of the day, it’s just me between him and the basket,” Williams said. “So you’ve gotta play defense at the end of the day.”
ROAD WARRIORS
Udoka relishes the road. It’s something he’s talked about before, but heading into a Game 3, which is generally a pivotal game in a tightly contested series, he reiterated his love for shutting people up.
“We talked about being road warriors and kind of playing us against the world and I think our guys embraced that,” he said. “You want to get off to good starts like last game, take their crowd out of it, but also punch first like we talked about in Game 1, we did that well in Game 2. I’ve always enjoyed playing on the road, coaching on the road and going against the other opponents on their home court. But I think our group has done well.”
The group seems to enjoy those moments, especially Smart.
“As a competitor, to be able to go onto somebody’s home court and take the life out of it is an awesome feeling,” he said. “That’s what kind of makes that ‘us vs. everybody’ even more important, because when you go into that hostile environment, it’s you and those 14 guys, the coaching staff and the team and organization against everybody else. So gotta have that mentality.”
And if you weren’t sure where Smart’s attitude and intensity come from, here’s the rest of his quote about road playoff games:
“I look at it as like when you were a little kid, you running from school, everybody got in fights, a lot of us got jumped before. My mama always told me, if you’re outnumbered, you might as well be the first one to initiate and start a punch, because you’re outnumbered. You might as well take one with you. That’s how it is. You’ve gotta go in and you’ve gotta be able to throw that punch first, knowing everybody is against you and you’re going to have a battle on your hands. So it definitely feels good, and I think as a competitor, the good ones and the great ones, they enjoy it.”
If you don’t know Smart’s life story, I suggest you listen to his interview on the team’s podcast from last year. You’ll gain a deeper appreciation for where he’s coming from.