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Marcus Smart had a pressing engagement following the team’s practice on Sunday.
And no, it didn’t involve the New England Patriot’s game against the Denver Broncos.
Smart, a Dallas native, was eager to see the house he bought his mother Camellia Smart, shortly after signing his first NBA contract.
“She looked at it; she picked it out,” Smart said. “She liked it, so this will be my first time seeing it.”
The purchase of the house stems from a promise he made to her many, many years ago.
“I promised my mom when I was a little boy if I ever made it to the NBA, that would be the first thing I’d do for her. Right now, I’m blessed to be able to do that for her.”
When the Celtics face the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, Smart will have a house full of family and friends cheering him on.
But as much as he enjoys his time with them, he knows his focus has to be elsewhere.
“We got a job to do tomorrow,” Smart said. “We’re coming off a tough loss against a good team (Houston). Now we’re about to go up against another good team in their home court again. My family is going to be there, but that’s not my main focus. My main focus is on this team and trying to come out with this victory tomorrow.
CSNNE.com: Smart fulfills promise of buying his mother a house
While it’s safe to say they won’t be cuing up the Diddy – Dirty Money, “Coming Home” video montage for Marcus Smart at American Airlines Center –although, how surprised would you be? It’s become about as routine as between quarter t-shirt tossing—, it’s clear that Smart’s first game in his hometown will take on an added significance for both him and his family. Given Smart’s adverse childhood and rocky sophomore college campaign, it will undoubtedly be an emotional moment when Brad Stevens checks him into tonight’s contest.
Smart didn’t have to wait long to visit with mom in her new digs. Most rookies have to scan multiple weeks or months on the calendar to find and circle a first trip home, but Smart gets to take the floor in Dallas in just his third career game, with the added benefit of seeing the immediate positive effects of inking his first professional contract.
Going from the adrenaline and nerves of a home-opener, to playing in front of dozens of friends and family doesn’t give the 20-year-old much time to settle back down. The good news is it won’t be hard to go anywhere but up after a 0-7 performance in Houston on Saturday.
Related Links: Masslive.com: Marcus Smart delivers on childhood promise | ESPNBoston.com: Home sweet home: Smart’s purchase
Page 2: What are the odds of 1-25 on 3s happening again? Like 1 in 100?
Here’s why Stevens probably isn’t too worried about the misses: The wizards at ESPN Stats and Info crunched the numbers and, based on last year’s league-wide 3-point percentage of 35.97 percent, the Celtics’ chances of missing 21 consecutive triples in a single game was 0.0086 percent. Yes, the odds are the team won’t endure another night like that again this season.
So you’re telling me there’s a chance! For the irrationally pessimistic Cs fan, –you were probably the same fan searching stubhub for playoff strips after the Nets’ game– this should quell your fears of a second consecutive horrific shooting night from beyond the arc against the Mavs. If the Celtics falter early in this one and Dallas jumps out to a big first quarter league like Houston did on Saturday, let’s see if the Celts’ fall-back plan is to act like a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament once again and forgo any offense inside the arc. There’s nothing wrong with building an offense around the ability to hit the open triple, but if it becomes the defense mechanism for falling behind in the early stages of a game against a strong opponent, that can’t be how Brad Stevens wants to see the offense devolve. At least there’s a 99.9914% chance it won’t be worse than Saturday.
Rest of the Links:
NESN.com: Celtics’ Jeff Green: ‘I hope’ hometown Redskins don’t change nickname | MassLive.com: James Young surprised by reaction to Boston Celtics debut… |
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