Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from C’s blowout loss to Toronto

Boston Celtics dud: Marcus Smart

Choosing one specific dud from Friday night’s game was perhaps even more challenging than when it came to picking a stud for, as far as this section is concerned, there were just so many candidates.

Jaylen Brown with his horrendous nine points on 23 percent shooting follow-up performance after dropping 46 during their opener?

The offensive extraordinaire, Dennis Schroder, and his second-straight lackluster showing with just four points and four turnovers on just 25 percent shooting from the floor?

As we said, there were plenty of players from this game to choose from but, to us, the biggest dud of them all Friday night was starting point guard, Marcus Smart.

Playing arguably the most important position in the game today, the 27-year-old simply could not find his rhythm at all the other night, which, in turn, affected the team as a whole as he finished with a final box score of five assists, two boards, and a whopping zero points on six attempts from the field, four of which came from beyond the arc (a sight Cs fans love to see, right?).

Now yes, his defense was still rather solid, as he remained a pest against his assignments and snatched up two steals, and swatted two blocks by game’s end, but with his newly acquired role as lead guard, a large portion of the blame for the offense’s struggles can undoubtedly be brought back to him.

He just didn’t showcase those same high-potential distribution/ set-up skills from years past that had some believing he could set career numbers in assists this season which, in turn, resulted in stagnated offensive play and a larger emphasis on isolation sets, which is something Ime Udoka has been vocal about wanting to stray away from.

A well-documented streaky player, Smart is the type of talent that can help you win a game just as easily as he can make you lose one.

Tonight, unfortunately, proved to be more of the latter.