February 21, 2021 | 4:11 PM
The Celtics have been without Marcus Smart for their last 11 games, and it sounds like they’ll be without him for at least another seven.
Smart, who is currently out due to a left calf strain, is unlikely to return prior to the All-Star break, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday on “NBA Countdown.” If that is the case, that would rule Smart out through at least March 10.
Smart has made some progression since suffering the injury in a loss to the Lakers on Jan. 30. He traveled with the Celtics to New Orleans for the start of their three-game road trip and participated in on-court activities. However, Smart’s rehab has taken longer than the initial two-to-three-week timeline. Saturday marked three weeks since Smart went down with the injury.
“He’s been going at a decent rate for the last few days,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters prior to Sunday’s game against the Pelicans. “So, I don’t know what that means for the rest of the trip or what it means for tomorrow if we decide to go with a small practice.”
Speaking to reporters on Jan. 12, Smart said he was at “30-to-40-percent” from a running standpoint.
“We’re doing light basketball activities right now,” Smart said. “Nothing crazy. I’m steady able to get my shots up. I’m able to run a little bit off it, not as much.
“But just mostly doing a lot of testing, getting my calf stronger and doing a lot of calf raises and things of that nature to strengthen it, and just getting ready to hopefully get to the standpoint of stage 3 or 4 where I’m full-court running and really just going all out to really test this thing.”
Smart added that he didn’t want to rush back his return.
“I’m feeling good,” Smart said. “Each day getting better. It’s obviously nowhere near where we wanted to be to coming back. We’re just taking it slow. Taking it day by day. There’s no big timeline I can give.
The Celtics have felt Smart’s absence, going 5-6 in the 11 games he’s missed. With Kemba Walker sitting out the second half of back-to-back games, the Celtics’ guard depth has been limited during Smart’s absence.
Smart’s averaging a team-high 6.1 assists per game this season and his 13.1 points per game are the fourth-best on the team.
Get Boston.com's browser alerts:
Enable breaking news notifications straight to your internet browser.
Turn on notificationsGreat, you’re signed up!
"smart" - Google News
February 22, 2021 at 04:11AM
https://ift.tt/3dxjnxJ
Marcus Smart reportedly unlikely to return prior to the All-Star break - Boston.com
"smart" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2P2kUhG
https://ift.tt/3febf3M
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Marcus Smart reportedly unlikely to return prior to the All-Star break - Boston.com"
Post a Comment