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.
The second-year guard/maniac became the first player to go for 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench in a playoff game since the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili in 2007.
In a 104-95 Celtics overtime victory to even the first-round series at 2-2, he was a plus-24.
“I thought Marcus just played a great game, period,” said Stevens. “And we’ve talked about it before. Marcus has had his ups and downs, but Marcus on this stage and, with his consistent work ethic and with his competitive spirit, you really trust that good things will happen.
“And so we trust in him, and he did a great job tonight on both ends on anybody that he was assigned to.”
That “assigned to” thing included a critical stint on Paul Millsap, who’d been killing the Celts all night.
Millsap had 41 points when Smart was given the sentence . . . er, task.
Said Smart: “Coach was like, ‘You know what? We’ve got to try something new.’ And he turned to me and said, ‘Marcus, guard him.’ And that’s all he said. I just kind of looked like, ‘OK.’
Not to dismiss Brad Stevens’ decision to move Marcus Smart onto Paul Millsap, but he really had no other options. The Hawks forward rose from the dead (averaging 8 points on 31% FG in the previous 3 games) and was torching anyone and everyone wearing green.
Outweighed by 30 pounds, Smart could have unleashed some of his best flopping moves on Millsap. But there was none of that garbage. Just pure bull-dog defense. Smart used his all of his 220 pounds, his quick hands and his grit-and-balls mentality to win the battles. Wearing Smart on his hip for the final quarter and overtime, Millsap managed a mere 4 points on 2-6 shooting. According to Kevin O’Connor, the Hawks collectively missed 10 of 12 shots when guarded by Smart.
The defensive effort alone was enough to warrant high praise. But Smart also delivered on offense. The shooting, the driving, the vision, he literally did it all. As Steve Bulpett mentioned, Smart’s off the bench stat line of 20 points, 8 rebounds (felt like more) and 5 assists was last duplicated by Manu Ginobili in the 2007 playoffs.
On Page 2, about the Hawks final possession in regulation…
Hawks’ Jeff Teague makes an absolute mess of final possesion in Game 4 vs. Celtics pic.twitter.com/KESiayyO53
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 25, 2016
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The Hawks held for a final attempt as Teague dribbled and the shot clock went under three seconds. He could not get a shot off, with Thomas defending, and the game went into overtime.
“The ball slipped out of my hand,” Teague said.
On the final play, Kyle Korver was to slip off a fake screen. The Celtics didn’t bite.
“You want to exhaust the clock in that situation,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “You want to get the last shot. I think Jeff just ended up mishandling it a little bit. That was just Jeff against Isaiah Thomas to obviously get a good look, a good opportunity, and not leave any time on the clock.”
Even if the ball doesn’t “slip” out of Teague’s hands, that was an awful possession.
You can’t prioritize running out the clock over getting a good shot.
And finally, Isaiah’s kids stole the show in the media room.
Listen in as @Isaiah_Thomas‘ youngins take the mic! #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/sZamqcwx11
— NBA (@NBA) April 25, 2016
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The rest of the links
Herald – Jerebko sweet in role | Cs keep Garden open a little longer | Globe – Give Celtics A for team effort | Smart’s takeover puts Celtics over top | CSNNE – Thomas gets help from teammates in win | ESPN – Smart the unexpected hero in Game 4 |
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