Boston Celtics: 2 guards who must step up in Marcus Smart’s Game 2 absence
Boston Celtics fans got a gut-punch of pre-Game 2 news Tuesday afternoon, hearing that the NBA’s 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart will be absent.
Game 2 is a must-win affair with the series heading back to Milwaukee and the Cs having already ceded home-court advantage via their Game 1 loss.
In Smart’s place, Derrick White will receive his fifth start in a Boston Celtics uniform, giving the Cs three switchable ball-handlers that are, by nature, not point guards. How that alters the offensive game plan, if it does at all, remains to be seen. Most weren’t calling Marcus Smart a pure point guard before the season, so maybe Ime Udoka’s system turns a ‘combo guard’ into a pass-first purist at the position.
Speaking of Udoka, he gave a Smart update any Celtics fan would want to hear:
Ime Udoka said Marcus Smart has “swelling, pain and restricted movement.” It “didn’t get better over the days like we thought it would.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) May 3, 2022
Udoka thinks he’ll be able to play in Game 3. Derrick White will start in Smart’s place tonight.
Derrick White and Payton Pritchard need to step up for the Boston Celtics in Marcus Smart’s Game 2 absence
It will take multiple Cs to replicate what Marcus Smart does for this team. Enter Derrick White, who had one of the second unit’s better performances, and Payton Pritchard, who did not, shooting 2/8 from beyond the arc.
Game 2’s importance cannot be overstressed considering the hostile territory ‘Deer District’ has become. The Fiserv Forum’s overall crowd ferocity has been a perfect defensive match to the team’s physical forces on the floor.
The T.D. Garden needs to be rocking on Tuesday night, and both Payton Pritchard and Derrick White splashing 3-pointers and finding their teammates for open looks needs to happen this summer.