Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“You can look at stat sheets all you want . . . with Marcus it just doesn’t tell the story,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “It’s his energy, it’s his emotion, it’s little plays that turn out to be game-changing plays like diving on the floor and flipping it to Al. The blocks, you know coming over when Shabazz Muhammad was really rolling and going up vertically and challenging his shot, making him miss. Like, those are huge plays. And we have other guys that are making them when he hasn’t been here, but he makes them every night. He makes them every night that he plays.”
Smart made an immediate impact Tuesday, knocking the ball away from Dellavedova, diving on the floor to retrieve it and feeding Rozier to start a fastbreak.
Ninety seconds later, Smart took an inbounds pass from Marcus Morris, was fouled by Tony Snell on a layup and completed the 3-point play. He added blocks on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Muhammad, and Khris Middleton, and when the Bucks scored the first 7 points of the fourth period to slice the Celtics’ lead to 72-68, Smart countered with a driving layup.
Marcus Smart puts us fans in a unique situation. We marvel at his heady, hustle plays while simultaneously expecting it.
Think about that for a moment.
The league is loaded with talented players who regularly make clutch jumpers, pinpoint passes, or rim-rattling dunks. But to some degree, those plays are all scripted.
For example, we know James Harden is going to make that shot, that (Playoff) Rajon Rondo is threading that pass, that Anthony Davis is finishing that lob, and that LeBron James is getting away with that travel.
But with Marcus, we have no idea what is coming. We just know he’ll do something. One minute he’s knocking away a lob at the rim, the next minute he’s crashing the offensive glass and finishing and-1. Or…
https://twitter.com/TheNBAFlash/status/988955845261078528
I’m not saying Marcus is an elite player (in the traditional sense). I’m just saying I can’t recall anyone like him.
And now Smart has extra inspiration:
“I wrote ‘Mama’s Boy’ and ‘I fight, you fight’ — that’s what I told her. As long as you keep fighting, I’m going to keep fighting,” Smart said. “And I put, ‘F— Cancer’ — and that’s just how I feel. We’re going to beat this. My mom’s doing well right now. She’s getting better. And things are looking on the upside for us. So we’re still positive, we’re still praying, and we’ve still got faith.”
Get well, Mamma Smart.
Related links: Herald – Soul train back on track in Smart return | Smart’s return ignites Celtics D | NBC Sports – Smart returns, Horford dominates
On Page 2, the Bucks got screwed by the officials.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA/status/988955291667632129
Replays confirmed this was indeed a shot-clock violation. Ouch.
The Celtics did not score with the extra possession but they did burn another 25 seconds off the clock.
You may wonder why the officials didn’t use replay:
Here is the explanation from referee Ken Mauer on why there was no review on Horford's shot-clock violation: "The rule states that under two minutes we are not allowed to review a potential 24-second violation unless the ball goes in the basket."
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) April 25, 2018
Too bad. Almost as bad as the non-foul call on Jaylen Brown in the closing minute of Game 4.
Almost.
The rest of the links
NBC Sports – Rozier: Dust up with Bledsoe part of the game | Mass Live – Morris says Rozier, Bledsoe clashing because of similarities
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
