Marcus Smart Has Breakout Game Against Thunder
The Boston Celtics entered the three game stretch starting with the Atlanta Hawks knowing it was going to be an extremely difficult challenge. After a strong victory against the Hawks the Celtics had all the confidence that they could win the next two games and they came through with another double digit victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Celtics have clearly made Marcus Smart more involved on the offensive end and after recovering from an injury he finally had his breakout game. Smart has been taking more threes per game than anyone else on his team and he hit another three out of five against the Thunder. Smart was firing on all cylinders and even tho he missed three of his eight free throws, he still managed 26 points on 14 shots.
Smart is becoming a much more efficient player and with how involved he is in the offense it is not a surprise that he was finally able to take over a game by scoring the ball.
The most impressive part of Smart’s game was his counterpart. Smart went head to head with Russell Westbrook and held the dominant point guard to just 5-20 shooting. Of course, the defense was more of a collective effort. The Celtics have incredible back court depth and they never let up on Westbrook.
Smart has already established himself as a top defender in the league and his offense is finally coming into form. It helps that the rest of the Celitcs are playing some of their best basketball of the season. Jared Sullinger continues to have a large impact and Isaiah Thomas continues to generate incredible amounts of offense.
Oct 23, 2015; Manchester, NH, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger (7) and guard Marcus Smart (36) speak during the first half of a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Verizon Wireless Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Sullinger brought in an incredible 15 rebounds, including 5 offensive boards. The Celtics crushed the Thunder on the boards collecting 13 more on the game. The Celtics are starting to embrace their bigs and they are hitting their stride all at the same time.
Amir Johnson is also starting to build up a reputation as a shot blocker. He has back to back games with three blocks and while Sullinger is finally giving the Celtics the rebounding they need, Johnson is starting to bring the rim protection they need. Kelly Olynyk continues to have a positive impact as a +11 and it appears as though the team has put the slow start behind them.
The Celtics battled through injuries to both Smart and Bradley and now that they are all in the lineup together their offense is starting to build some great chemistry. Having Thomas play alongside Smart in the starting lineup will certainly help too.
In addition to being the team’s leading scorer, Thomas is having an even larger impact passing the ball. Thomas is averaging just over 6 assists per game and he is looking to make a pass first much more than a season ago. Thomas has struggled shooting but he has never stopped looking to create for his teammates and Smart will be a beneficiary.
Smart is proving that he can be trusted to capitalize on his opportunities and Thomas will be creating more opportunities for him than anyone else on the team. The Celtics may miss the defense of Bradley but with how well the bigs and Jae Crowder are playing they can afford to have the weaker defender in Thomas on the court with the starting unit.
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Smart and Thomas can create one of the more dynamic back court duos in the NBA and after they combined for 46 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds they are starting to show their true potential.