Marcus Smart walked around the sideline at TD Garden, taking photos with fans, holding court with old friends, staff members, and teammates. This marked his fourth return to Boston since the trade that altered his career and the course of Celtics history. The view from the sideline, since, became all too familiar. For the third time since his departure, he missed a game a Boston with an injury, this one a back ailment that's cost him six games, one of probably 100 he's dealt with throughout his basketball life. Despite that, each trip back feels special.
"The emotions are the same every time," he said. "This was my home for nine years. I came in as a 19-year-old kid, and for nine years it was crazy. I got engaged while I was here. I grew up a lot. So the emotions are always gonna be the same here."
Those returns also showed the range of his basketball experiences in his new homes between Memphis, Washington and now the LA Lakers, a stunning new reality for the nearly decade-long Celtic. A call from Luka Dončić and reminiscing over the fact that Smart and the Celtics faced a 16-year-old Dončić during a 2015 Madrid preseason game inspired Smart to join the Lakers over several other contenders following a summer buyout from Washington. He took a back seat with the Wizards into a mentorship role, sitting out late, begrudgingly, for the game between Washington and Boston last year as the team turned its attention toward the draft. The Grizzlies reversed course and traded him to the Wizards with draft capital attached. In LA, he found a team that wanted, prioritized, and got the best out of him early this season.
Yet Friday's 126-105 Celtics rout over the Lakers showed the reality for the west contenders reliant on a 40-year-old LeBron James, who's struggled through his return from sciatica, Dončić carrying one of the largest usages in the league and Smart, who's appeared in only 14 of the Lakers' 23 games so far, and that's marked an improvement over his health at his last two stops. LA is reliant on a few players to shoulder enormous roles. Dončić missed the game for personal reasons as he attended the birth of his child.
"We miss him," JJ Redick said about Smart on Friday. "(He) challenged the guys at the beginning of the fourth quarter that had to get every loose ball in that fourth quarter. I thought our defensive intensity and our ability to get stops and make multiple efforts, whether it was the chase down block, (Deandre Ayton's) stop at the end, Jake (LaRavia) diving on the floor for a loose ball. They tried to make those multiple efforts and executed them well. We're gonna be happy when Smart's back in the lineup, whenever that is."
Smart expects to return on Wednesday against the Spurs for the Lakers' NBA Cup quarterfinal game. Through his first 14 Lakers appearances, he averaged 9.3 points, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game on 40.8% shooting (25.4% 3PT). His impact came on the defensive end, where he drew stellar analytical marks for his defensive impact. Smart ranks in the 70th percentile, allowing 0.93 points per possession through his minutes, 0.75 PPP guarding the pick-and-roll (82nd percentile), and a staggering 0.39 PPP defending isolations. Those are over a limited sample size given his absences. Opponents have shot 46.2% from the field against Smart, the fourth-best mark among their regulars.
After the game on Friday, Smart reunited with Jaylen Brown and Derrick White on the court, and he's been in touch with Jayson Tatum several times throughout his Achille rehab, who he's found in good spirits. The Celtics' 15-9 start didn't surprise Smart despite Tatum's absence and various offseason departures, due to how highly he still views the organization as he's gained more perspective traveling the league.
"It's exactly what I assumed," Smart said. "When you got a foundation like the Celtics do, it's easy to buy in and they're doing their thing ... when you got that pedigree, you're not surprised when guys go down and other opportunities for guys come up and they're taking advantage of it."
Two offseasons have passed since the trade from Boston blindsided Smart and