Brad Stevens had just one complaint about Marcus Smart’s return to the Boston Celtics’ lineup on Thursday: He couldn’t play Smart more.
Smart returned to action on Thursday for the first time since suffering a calf strain on Jan. 30. His efficient 19-point performance helped the Celtics keep pace for three quarters before the Brooklyn Nets pulled away for a 121-109 victory.
“As far as Marcus’ minutes, great to have him back out on the floor. The 5-minute stints suck,” Stevens said. “It is what it is. There’s only so many ways to manage that, to have any rhythm at all. You want him to be able to end the game and use his versatility defensively. I know he’ll be excited when that 20-minute deal is over. But I thought he looked good, I thought he did a lot of good things, and he’ll only get better as he gets more used to game action.”
Smart said he experienced some first-game jitters, but he felt generally good getting back on the floor.
“It’s like riding a bike,” he added. “I just come back and do what I do: Try to help my team win games.”
Smart took just six shots, finishing 4-for-6, but he went to the free-throw line nine times and shouldered the task of guarding a white-hot Kyrie Irving in the second half. Irving still scored on Smart, but doing so was more difficult.
“You saw it today, he takes matchups personally,” Daniel Theis said. “Like he wanted to get a stop, like when he guarded Kyrie, he wanted to guard him. He wanted to make it tough for him, make him miss a shot and just be there and lead the way for our whole team. If he needs to run our defense, he is pulling everybody with him.”
Smart is frustrated by the minutes restriction too, although he said he understands it. When he went down, many observers worried he had suffered a much more serious injury than a strained calf. The Celtics don’t want him to re-aggravate the injury and they certainly don’t want him to experience something worse.
“I don’t think I’ll be on minutes restrictions for long, but as of right now, we’re going to take it and keep going with it,” Smart said.
The Celtics still have little experience with all of their best players on the floor, but for the team’s stars — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who have been asked the shoulder a lot of responsibility — Smart’s return is a boost.
“Happy for him. Happy to see him back and healthy,” Tatum said. “Obviously, we’re a better team when everyone’s there and healthy and stuff like that. …
“I was happy to have him back and just happy to see him back out there, doing what he loves to do.”
Smart, meanwhile, appreciated his team’s effort despite the outcome.
“We were right there,” he said. “We played a really good team. And we’ve got some things we need to clean up, but it was very promising. I’m proud of the way we played. I’m proud of the effort. And the shots fell for them tonight, shots fell for us here and there. Just got to finish the game out, but like I said I’m proud of the way we played tonight.”
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