It didn’t sound right when I first heard it.
The TNT sideline report during the Bucks game announcing the Celtics were hopeful Marcus Smart could return for the last game before the All-Star game didn’t make any sense.
When the Celtics' injury report came out and it didn’t include him for the first time in 11 games, it was surprising.
Why would he want to do that?
“Just to really get myself back used to the playing and everything like that,” Smart said before the game. “So coming back from All-Star, I didn't want to do everything I've been doing up until now with the treatment and stuff then going to All-Star for All-Star break and come back. Then it's like I'm back to square one. Wanted to just kind of get into a rhythm so when I do leave, my body's used to it and get back to it."
It didn’t take long for his body to get used to things.
The first of his six steals fell into his hands like a gift from the heavens, slipping right through Isaiah Stewart’s hands directly into his. Smart flicked it out to Derrick White, who tossed it over to Jayson Tatum for an easy layup.
I want to picture that moment in Smart’s mind like that three-year-old girl who tasted cotton candy for the first time and bugged out at a Seattle Mariners game. The sweet rush of a turnover touching Smart’s palms for the first time in weeks made him crave more.
A minute later, he ripped Killian Hayes. In the second quarter, he made up for his own botched pass by blowing up a two-on-one Detroit break. Just 45 seconds after that he picked Corey Joseph clean. He stole one from Stewart for real in the third quarter, and then he baited Bojan Bogdanovic into a pass he picked off.
Four of his steals turned into points.
“It was great. Defensively, he just does things that nobody else can really do,” Blake Griffin said after the win. “I mean he and D White could do things that constantly amaze you on the defensive end. Offensively, too, but defensively they are special.”
The early steals got Boston going, piling up some early points. The late steals helped kill momentum Detroit was building. After an 11-game absence, Smart was back to making timely plays on the defensive end to change the flow of games.
The problem with being out for a long time is that memories fade quickly in the middle of a season. White has been spectacular filling in for Smart. So much so that some had suggested it was time to switch roles, and that White would be better off starting for Boston.
Smart made quick work of that notion with his defense, and also with his offense. Tatum’s first six points were the direct result of Smart making a play. After the layup off Smart’s first steal, Smart fed Tatum again with a bullet of a cross-court pass off his second steal. And then there was this dime for Tatum’s third basket of the first quarter.
“He’s a facilitator,” Malcolm Brogdon said. “You know he’s trying to find the best guy open. He’s a guy on the floor that has great chemistry with everybody. You have a player like that, you can plug him in at any point in the game with whatever lineup and he’s going to help.”
This pass to Luke Kornet is a beauty.
Smart sees the lane wide open and as soon as he knows Kornet sees it too, he puts the pass in a perfect spot. Kornet doesn’t need to bring it down at all. He just switches hands and lays it in softly.
No rust. No hesitation. Smart just walked right back onto the court and his timing with his teammates was perfect.
“It felt really good, actually,” Smart said. “My teammates, I thank those guys for giving me the ball early, allowing me to get my rhythm back. It just felt like I haven't missed a beat and it felt good to get back at it with those guys.”
It was easy to tell he felt good. As good as Smart is at basketball, he’d be a terrible poker player because his emotions are clear. And there was one emotion he was showing a lot of in this game.
“We missed his joy. He brought a level of joy to the game tonight,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He brought a connectivity and a trust on a defensive end to where because of the way he plays, it just breeds energy and everybody plays that way. … But it starts with the joy and his energy, I think.”
Slowly the Celtics are going to start to get whole. Smart’s return gives them their starting point guard back. Jaylen Brown should be back in short order and Robert Williams is hoping to get right during the break. The Smart/Tatum/Brown/Williams/Al Horford lineup has played 71 possessions together this season. Eventually, this group will coalesce and the Celtics can bring White, Brogdon, Grant Williams, Mike Muscala, and Sam Hauser off the bench for a 10-deep squad that will be very dangerous.
On Wednesday night, they got their point guard back; an important piece of what they hope is a championship puzzle.
“I feels real good. It felt like something was missing in my life,” Smart said. “So it feels real good to be back out there with my team, my coaching staff and just the energy that we brought."
