Marcus Smart’s progression as a leader has turned the Boston Celtics’ season around

Marcus Smart’s development as a leader has taken his game, and the Boston Celtics to another level.

When Brad Stevens met with reporters Saturday, the majority of the conversation was going to be about Marcus Morris and Jaylen Brown. A video surfaced of Morris shoving Brown during a timeout in the Celtics’ 115-99 loss in Miami Thursday.

Stevens didn’t seem worried about the altercation, citing all teams go through things like what Morris and Brown did. His focus was on the player breaking up the argument, Marcus Smart.

Smart’s growth as a leader has been on full display this season. He anchors the defense, calling out assignments on the floor or from the bench. He gets on his teammates for lazy play and has been highly regarded by fellow veterans Al Horford and Kyrie Irving for his leadership in the locker room.

After a rough start to the year for the Celtics, Smart has been the catalyst of the best stretch of basketball for any team in the league. Since Smart entered the starting lineup for an injured Brown on November 26, the Celtics are 15-6, and have statistically been the best team in the NBA.

Since 11/26:

Offensive rating: 116.8 (1st)

Defensive rating: 106.1 (7th)

Net Rating: 10.7 (1st)

The Celtics also have a league-best assist-to-turnover ratio and the second best true shooting percentage. Boston is moving the ball without turning it over and they’re hitting the open shots. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

Inserting Smart into the starting lineup has completely turned the offense around. Before November 26th, the Celtics owned the 26th ranked offense in the NBA. History tells us that to win a championship, you have to be at least top-10 if not top-five in both offense and defense to win a championship, especially against a team like the Warriors. Smart has the Celtics headed in the right direction.

Smart would have been one of the last people you’d expect to take a bottom-five offense to the top spot, so how has he done it? While he is experiencing a career-year from three, hitting 35 percent of his attempts, his ability to act as the primary ball handler has allowed Irving to terrorize defenses off the ball.

Irving is hard to stop regardless of where you put him, but it’s much easier to slow him own with a set defense. Running him off screens and delivering him passes on cuts or off of hand offs puts the defense in a tough position.

Irving is great at read and react, it’s what makes him such a great scorer and ball handler. Giving him a scrambling defense as opposed to a set one makes him almost impossible to contain.

In the first clip you can see the Sixers guard him straight up with a switch off the screen and he burns the big man with a quick pull up. In the second, the Grizzlies collapse three defenders to respond to Irving’s gravity and he finds a wide-open Jayson Tatum for a three. Let’s take a look at Irving’s numbers before Smart was inserted in the lineup compared to after.

Irving Before 11/26:

22 PPG, 6.4 APG, 47.4% FG, 37.9% 3P, 4.1 NET rating

Irving after 11/26:

23.6 PPG, 6.7 APG, 50.6%FG, 44.6% 3P, 16.3 NET rating

If the Celtics want to maximize Irving, especially in a playoff setting, they have to put Smart on the floor with him.

Smart isn’t a player worried about his role, he just goes out and makes winning plays. He used to be a player the Celtics had to reign in rather than let him loose. His shot selection was suspect, his temper a problem on multiple occasions, but he was always focused on winning.

The Celtics were in the midst of an identity crisis before Smart was given a bigger role. He stepped up not only with his game, but as a leader.

During his free agency, there were opinions floating around that Smart wasn’t worth a long term contract, and the Celtics would be fine if they let him walk. This is no longer the case. Smart isn’t just a role player anymore, he’s a bonafide stud who has probably been the Celtics’ MVP this season.