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No matter what kind of stats Marcus Smart has produced throughout a given game, he’s always ready to step up and deliver on the clutch. Despite a slow start Tuesday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics’ dependable shooting guard outperformed as he has so many times as he delivered one of the most heroic clutch performances in his career.
Boston entered the fourth quarter behind the Toronto Raptors, 78-70, and desperately needed a spark. Usually a spark doesn’t come from a guy who shot 1 of 7 from the field for the first three frames, but of course Smart isn’t your typical gamer.
After mentally blocking the first three quarters, Smart opened the final frame by shooting past the 3-point arc. He threw shot after shot with confidence, racking up five three-point passes over a three-minute span.
Smart hit his fifth triple of the fourth at the 7:55 mark, tying the game at 85 overall. Their sudden bombardment had completely taken Toronto’s breath away, and the Celtics carried their momentum streak to a 102-99 win and a 2-0 series lead.
“We needed it. Bad, ”teammate Kemba Walker said of Smart’s rise. “He was fighting before that, and then out of nowhere, that’s just a will to win, man. That is just a will to win. He has that. And he brings that to our team. ”
How Smart brings that winning element to it varies from game to game. One night, it could be a momentum-altering heist leading to a counterattack. Another night, it could be him to block the best offensive player on the opposing team for a game-saving save. It is impossible to predict how you will help win a match, but your teammates and coaches know that it is likely to happen one way or another.
“Marcus has always had a huge impact on winning,” said C coach Brad Stevens. “He always does what he needs to to win. Tonight, we needed a little offensive jolt – we missed a few open shots against that zone late in the third and early in the fourth. But then he did a bunch in a row and loosens the D and now we can drive the ball. I still think we missed some plays and some late readings. But Marcus has been a winning player since he got here. I’ve said it many times, we’ve been to the playoffs every year since he was here and it’s not a coincidence. ”
What drives Smart’s will to win is a combination of confidence and tenacity. Those two elements were what helped rescue him from a slow start Tuesday night, as he held onto the belief that he could snap out of his shooting problem and deliver down the stretch.
“In the first half, the shots he was taking were intermittent,” Smart recalled. They were great shots and I kept telling myself all I need is one to get in and you’ll be back there. And once I saw the first one come in (in the last quarter), I knew the next time I catch, I’ll shoot if I’m open. ”
What also helped Smart to fulfill at the time was the faith his teammates had in him. They too ignored its slow start and tried to open it up knowing its track record of getting ahead in the clutch.
“We really trust each other,” said Smart, who finished with 19 points. “[My teammates] he just keeps telling me, ‘Hey, we just need you to be you and make big plays,’ and that’s what I did. ”
Jayson Tatum was one of those encouraging voices that kept trying to get Smart to open up down the stretch. The All-Star wing has witnessed Smart’s clutch factor countless times and is still in awe of what it can do. ”
“I’ve never played anyone like Smart, I’ve never met anyone like Smart,” said Tatum, who had 34 points and six assists in the playoffs. “He is one of a kind. Anyone who sees him play, knows him or plays with him knows that there is no one like Smart. Every time I go to war, I would take him to my team every day of the week.”
What Smart does from game to game cannot be replicated and the variety of ways he helps the Celtics win games cannot be matched.
“There’s only one Marcus Smart, I’ll tell you about it now,” confirmed Walker. “There’s only one. A different beast. That guy is amazing. I say it all the time, man, he’s a monster. We love playing with that guy. His intensity is unmatched. He’s really fun to be on the court. I love the intensity. it brings to the game. It just raises our level. ”
On Tuesday night, Smart raised the bar one more notch, while leading the Celtics to just two one-place wins in the Eastern Conference Finals.
