Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from C’s fluid victory over Toronto

Boston Celtics stud: Marcus Smart

It’s undeniable that Marcus Smart had himself a slow start to the 2021-22 campaign, but these last few games have been a nice step in the right direction for the veteran and Sunday may have been his best game yet.

Showing off his Swiss Army Man style of play, the 27-year-old was an absolute menace for the Cs in virtually every way imaginable.

As is always expected, Smart was an absolute pest on the less glamorous side of the ball, playing tough and physical defense the entire night and, while his five personal fouls may not be ideal, at least two of them were undeniably bogus calls by the refs, one of which being the “push off” with 1.2 seconds left in the second, which was simply atrocious and a real Oscar-winning acting job by Precious Achiuwa.

On top of this, however, the eighth-year pro played an excellent game on the offensive side of the floor, putting up a team-high 21-points (many of which came from Tatum’s dimes) to go along with eight rebounds (three offensive), and six assists (many of which were truly fantastic dishes) on 43.8 shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep.

These past three games the point guard finds himself boasting averages of 18 points, 7.3 assists, six rebounds, and a steal per game which, frankly, are numbers many envisioned he would be putting up heading into the year.

Nights like Sunday show just how fun this team can be when Marcus Smart is in synch.