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 quintessential Marcus Smart play arrived Saturday night when he flipped over an opponent, missed a putback game-winner and still, somehow, gifted the Boston Celtics a chance to seize a last-second victory. After Al Horford snuck in a go-ahead bucket with 1.3 seconds left, then blocked the Detroit Pistons’ desperate attempt at the buzzer, he wanted to make it clear: “The credit is to Marcus.”
“That’s championship plays that he made, winning plays that he made right there,” Horford told reporters in Detroit after Boston’s 94-92 win. “So he just literally crashed the glass hard, and the ball just fell. I just put it back in and that was that.”
But none of Horford’s heroics would have been possible without Marcus Smart risking life and limb to simply keep the ball alive on Boston’s final possession. It was Smart who charged full throttle from the 3-point line and leaped into a wall of four white jerseys, tipping the ball just enough to allow Horford to quickly flick it back up and break the game’s final tie.
On his fearless charge, Smart leaped between Ish Smith and Tobias Harris. Caught beneath the rim, Smart tried his best to force up his own putback but didn’t have a good angle. He went crashing to the floor as Smith leaned forward from Smart’s impact. Smart was able to brace his fall slightly with his arms, but the side of his head appeared to hit the floor. Smart needed a moment to collect himself after the play (and Smith immediately checked on him after seeing the hard crash).
Marcus Smart is a maniac. For all this flopping theatrics, the kid is a legitimately fearless player whose complete disregard for his own safety (with an assist from Stan Van Gundy… more on that in a minute) helped the Celtics escape with a win.
It’s important to note where Smart started his charge on that play.
Flight 36, cleared for takeoff…
With everyone watching Jae Crowder get a clean look from the corner, Smart starts his run at the rim from a step behind the 3-point line.
Here’s where Stan Van Gundy comes into play
After the Pistons tied the game at 92-all with 23.2 seconds left, Stevens decided against calling timeout. The decision kept Drummond, one of the NBA’s best rebounders, on the bench — and paid off when Smart crashed the glass to create a second-chance game-winner for Horford.
According to the Detroit Free Press’ Vince Ellis, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said he took out Drummond with 30 seconds left because Baynes is “really good” at the play the team ran to tie the score. But in a nifty play call from Van Gundy, all Baynes did was set a pick and roll to the hoop while Smith found Tobias Harris for a 3-pointer.
“As it turned out, quite honestly, I’m not sure Aron’s part didn’t really have a lot to do with it,” Van Gundy said. “I’m kicking myself right now. If he’d been in the game, we probably get the rebound and we probably are still playing (in overtime) instead of talking to you (the media). Not that I don’t enjoy talking to you guys, but that could have waited another 45 minutes.”
It’s the little things like that which allow things like this to happen…
Marcus swooped in, timed his jump perfectly, and because he suddenly caused a big overreaction to his play, Al Horford was left alone to clean up the miss and put the C’s up 2. Except Marcus paid a big price…
While Marcus was getting to know what the Palace floor tastes like, Horford flicked in the game-winner. Let’s put it all together…
Game-winning hustle leads to a game-winning basket 👍 pic.twitter.com/aEGHHOdpZS
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 20, 2016
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He seems ok, even though he was slow to get up. And while he didn’t have a good shooting night, it’s plays like this that show how important he is to this team.
Without that play, who knows if we’d be talking about a win today.
Related links: CSNNE: Horford quick to credit Smart’s hustle on winning play
Page 2: About that time Isaiah called his teammates and coaches…
“If Isaiah played 48 minutes in a game and you took him out for the first minute of overtime, he’d be frustrated,” Stevens said. “One of the things I really like about Isaiah is how passionate he is about the game and how competitive he is.
“Listen, it was a tough night. They were on a 23-3 run, we were down 27 and we took him out with five minutes to go [in the third quarter].
“I understand his frustration. We talked a little bit last night after the fact but to me it was a reaction to the 23-3 run, not necessarily not choosing to play somebody the rest of the night.”
Thomas said he wasn’t trying to criticize teammates but spoke from his heart just moments after a difficult loss.
So after the blowout loss to Golden State, Isaiah said a few things but as Gary Washburn notes in his piece, Isaiah and Brad Stevens spoke a few hours later to clear the air.
I’ll be honest… I’m always one to give athletes a pass on emotional things said right after a game. Guys like Thomas are fierce competitors in an emotional game. Sometimes it’s hard to swallow all those emotions and be the calm and measured person fans want players to be after games. That’s just a fact.
So when Isaiah says something out of frustration, I’m willing to let it slide. He never spouts off like this, so a one-off comment doesn’t bother me. And he knew well enough to clear the air with his coach once he calmed down.
Personally, I like the fact that some of these guys are willing to say stuff like this from time to time. A passion for winning, and an extreme distaste for losing, is fine with me.
Related links: Herald: Isaiah Thomas, Brad Stevens discuss guard’s comments
And Finally…
just as planned pic.twitter.com/Gf23tbscHE
— rach (@rachaelhoops) November 20, 2016
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I don’t know what the hell is going on in 2016 but if Red Panda is missing bowls like this during NBA halftime shows, then I’m checking out. I’ll be in a bunker for the next month. Wake me up when the ball drops.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Scalabrine’s council to Horford sheds light on dark days | Celtics welcome back Horford & Crowder with win over Pistons
CSNNE: Horford stands out in return to lineup
WEEI: Horford, Crowder hit spots in win over Pistons
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