The Boston Celtics need Marcus Smart to be at his best to beat the Spurs
The Boston Celtics will have their toughest test of the season as they face off against the San Antonio Spurs, in search of their fifth straight win. The Celtics recently got a bit of good news on the injury front as Marcus Smart returned to the lineup.
Unfortunately, Smart has been limited, and is not having the kind of impact that was envisioned for him yet this season. Fortunately, the Celtics did not need him to play at that level during this streak.
The Celtics are defending phenomenally, and they do not need him to be making the extra offensive plays that were expected. Since returning, the Celtics have just needed the hustle plays with the way the rest of the team has been playing.
Against the spurs, that will not be the case. The Celtics will not be able to sneak a lucky victory because of late game heroics against a team as good as the Spurs. They will need to continually maintain a high level of play throughout the game, and the biggest question mark will be how the second unit holds up.
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The Spurs are always deep and are one of the biggest threats to all the youth and inexperience on Boston’s second unit. Popovich will have a great plan of attack when the young second unit takes over, and Smart needs to be the one to step up and make sure that the Spurs do not get too much of an edge.
The good news is that Smart has been getting help on the second unit. Terry Rozier is trusted now, and Semi Ojeleye has been providing great defense in limited opportunities. The Celtics have the pieces on the second unit to not blow the game against the Spurs, but if smart does not get them all working properly then it could be disastrous.
Smart is the only one that will instigate and generate great ball movement, and if he does not get all his teammates involved, then they will not be able to get any scoring against a Spurs defense that will not be making mistakes for them to capitalize on.
We have come to expect the impact Smart will have on defense, and that needs to be a given against the Spurs. It is unlikely that the Celtics are going to get an overall advantage with their second unit, but smart can bring that spark against any team.
Smart needs to be making plays on defense, because there will be mistakes that need to be made up for when playing the Spurs. If Smart is not having that kind of impact on defense, then the starters will need their best game of the season to have a chance.
Even if he is having that defensive impact, what he is able to get out of the second unit offense is going to be one of the determining factors in the game.
The Spurs are never a team that you can beat as individuals, and Smart is one of the few players that knows what Stevens needs in order to get everyone involved. The Celtics need an aggressive Smart, but they need him to be in control.
It is far more important that he has an impact as a distributor than a shooter, and the most important thing is that he cannot be making mistakes, as he helps compensate for the mistakes all the youth around him will inevitably make against a team like the Spurs.
The Celtics will need their best performance of the season to get this fifth straight victory against the Spurs, and they will not get that if Smart is not at his best on both ends.
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Hopefully the ankle will not be bothering him too much, because this is not a game the Celtics can afford to have Smart become a liability in any way.