Maybe it was to remember the good memories of Oklahoma where he did his college, but Marcus Smart was clearly the man of the Celtics’ furious comeback against the Thunder on Monday night.
Dropped at -15 in the third quarter, the Celtics were actually able to count on their leader, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy, author of 20 of his 22 points in the second half, plus 8 assists and 5 rebounds.
Logically interviewed by local TV, Marcus Smart was “victim” of a hell of a series of congratulations from his teammates who left the field one by one after the “hold up” at home in Boston. It started with a friendly pat from Derrick White, then another from Noah Vonleh, then a bestial shout from Al Horford, a hand in the hair from Grant Williams and finally the jump on the back of Jaylen Brown .
“Last season at this time, we would have lost this match”, believes Marcus Smart on NBC Sports. “It’s about progressing on yourself, understanding things and recognizing your mistakes. It’s a great feeling. A lot of things happened at the start of the season, a lot of controversies, expectations, obstacles… But we continued to move forward, to fight and to trust each other. »
“It was good to face this adversity and find the solutions”
And that therefore gives a finalist team, which has retained its young hard core of stars, which is currently at the top of the League, on a series of seven straight wins. With the atmosphere in good shape under the leadership of the new coach, Joe Mazzulla, who made people forget the Ime Udoka affair, suspended for one year.
“That’s what we discussed after the game: it wasn’t pretty pretty but OKC, even if they don’t have the best record in the League, they have a talented team offensively. They play with a lot of rhythm. The guys know their roles and they can beat anyone in a game. It was good for us to face this adversity and find the solutions.”adds Jayson Tatum. “Everyone contributed. D-White and Payton [Pritchard] brought the spark out of the bench at the end of the third. It really carried us to victory. I’m proud of the team, it’s a big win. »
With starters frustrated by the refereeing, it was the substitutes who managed to rekindle the Celtic flame when they returned from the locker room. The C’s esprit de corps did the rest, and we must emphasize the coaching of Joe Mazzulla who had therefore opted for a formula with three backs: Smart, White and Pritchard.
“I just think you always know what Payton is going to bring when you put on the pitch. I felt like we needed a boost and he did a great job on both sides of the court to give it to us.” justifies the Celtics coach.“I think they then lost their attacking rhythm, and that gave us energy when D. White, Smart, Payton and all the other players put pressure on the ball. It gave us a spark, and at the same time it put pressure on their creators. »
What to make proud Blake Griffin who watched, with a smirk, his protege, Payton Pritchard, interviewed after his good performance. And this, after having squatted the Boston bench for a long time at the start of the season…
“I actually hate that guy”declared Payton Pritchard in a final joke, symbol of the healthy atmosphere that reigns in the Celtic locker room, which awaits the return of Robert Williams to business.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Jayson Tatum | 14 | 37.5 | 49.1 | 36.8 | 86.6 | 0.8 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 3.9 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 31.9 |
| Jaylen Brown | 13 | 36.8 | 48.2 | 33.7 | 83.1 | 0.9 | 5.8 | 6.8 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 25.4 |
| Malcolm Brogdon | 11 | 23.0 | 47.7 | 36.8 | 86.1 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 13.7 |
| Marcus Smart | 14 | 32.7 | 41.9 | 29.2 | 82.8 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 7.1 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 3.1 | 11.4 |
| Al Horford | 11 | 31.5 | 53.9 | 45.1 | 62.5 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 6.5 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 11.3 |
| Grant Williams | 13 | 28.2 | 58.6 | 48.8 | 81.8 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 9.3 |
| Derrick White | 14 | 25.6 | 42.9 | 40.0 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 8.9 |
| Sam Hauser | 14 | 15.6 | 50.7 | 45.2 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 7.4 |
| Payton Pritchard | 7 | 10.6 | 45.5 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 5.3 |
| Blake Griffin | 6 | 12.0 | 44.4 | 37.5 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| Luke Kornet | 10 | 11.7 | 52.4 | 33.3 | 87.5 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 3.0 |
| justin jackson | 3 | 4.9 | 33.3 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| noah vonleh | 12 | 10.6 | 52.6 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 |
| Jd Davison | 1 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
