BOSTON — Entering Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, there was just one player in the entire NBA who attempted more than eight field goals per game and was shooting worse than Marcus Smart over his first 10 games of the season: Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs (30.6 percent).
Scoring has never been Smart’s strong suit but he opened the 2021-22 season at some historically bad levels even by his standards. The point guard was shooting just 32.6 percent from the field and a dismal 28.1 percent from 3-point range (16th worst in NBA among qualifiers) despite attempting 5.7 per game.
A number of Boston’s starters have gotten off to brutal shooting starts but Smart was as responsible as anyone for the team’s lackluster 22nd offensive rating during a 5-6 start when combining his poor shooting and higher than usual turnover rate in his new starting role.
With Jaylen Brown sidelined with a hamstring injury for the past week, the onus has shifted offensively for Boston over the past few games. Teams are able to key in more on Jayson Tatum without worrying about Boston’s secondary options making them pay. That has led teams to bet even more against Boston’s guards such as Smart, hitting the open looks which they are happy to concede to ensure that Tatum can’t beat them all by himself.
On Friday night against the Bucks, Smart made Milwaukee pay for this strategy on a night Boston desperately needed a scoring boost. While Dennis Schroder erupted for 38 points in the overtime win, Smart’s efficient season-high 19 points and a team-high six assists were both pivotal in helping ensure the 122-113 victory for Boston against an undermanned Milwaukee squad. Smart himself was responsible for breathing life into the hosts in the third quarter by scoring 12 straight points for Boston in one four-minute stretch, snapping them out of a first-half fog.
“I think we were slow defensively,” Ime Udoka said of the opening 24 minutes. “Way too many mistakes defensively. And just kind of isolation and post up heavy in the first half. We wanted to spread them out and I think we got too bogged down looking for the mismatch. So it became a slugfest in the first half. Didn’t play well, but felt good that we were only down four. And I feel the energy was better in the second half.”
Smart was the catalyst to that energy on both ends of the floor with three steals, leading to a plus-13 over his 42 minutes. However, the biggest plus of his night was his offense beginning to turn a corner. He went 7-of-13 from the field and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, picking his spots well against the Bucks’ weaker defenders with his shot selection and dribble penetration. As the rest of Boston’s starting five struggled with turnovers (15 combined) Smart had zero miscues in his 42 minutes, playing his role as a secondary scorer and distributor perfectly on a night where Boston got no real scoring boost from their bench (17 combined points).
Overall, it was the first night Smart shot 50 percent from the field this season and was his third consecutive game shooting 40 percent from the field, slowly but surely helping to bring back his offensive numbers to respectability.
The opportunities will continuously be there as long as Brown is out of the lineup and it’s crucial that Smart delivers far better efficiency as we saw against the Bucks when he takes advantage of those extra looks. Amid a rocky start to the season for Smart on and off the floor, Friday’s effort was a strong step in the right direction.
"smart" - Google News
November 13, 2021 at 06:00PM
https://ift.tt/30lKpUc
Marcus Smart delivers timely breakout in Celtics overtime win against Bucks amid ugly start to season - MassLive.com
"smart" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2P2kUhG
https://ift.tt/3febf3M
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Marcus Smart delivers timely breakout in Celtics overtime win against Bucks amid ugly start to season - MassLive.com"
Post a Comment