Celtics Lack Defensive Punch Without Smart

On January 30, when Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart suffered a Grade 1 strain of his left calf contesting a rebound against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics were 10-7 and only 2.5 games back in the Eastern Conference.

In the time since Smart’s injury (including the Lakers matchup, which they lost despite having a lead when Smart went down) Boston has dropped seven of 11 games, and are now in fifth place, 4.5 back of conference leader Philadelphia.

Coincidence? Probably not.

While many reasons have been provided to explain Boston’s precipitous downturn — from miserable shooting to bad coaching to a key player not being fully recovered from his bout with COVID-19 — perhaps the most logical explanation is poor defense arising from a general lack of effort. Defense and effort, of course, is where Smart, a two-time member of the NBA’s All-Defensive first team, stands out most.

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Smart is (and has been for years since his arrival in 2014) the Celtics leader is most hustle categories, from deflections to loose balls to charges taken. And obviously, his absence has translated to the team’s overall defensive numbers.

For the season, Boston’s defensive rating — the number of points scored by an opponent per 100 possessions — is 110.2, or 10th best in the league. But in the 10 games since Smart has been out, the team’s defensive rating has risen to 112.6, or 15th in the league. Not an insignificant amount, especially when you consider that 2.4 points is more than the difference between the 9th ranked team (Miami) and the 22nd (Detroit).

But putting stats aside, Smart brings a toughness and effort to Boston’s defense that can’t be quantified, wearing down opponents over the course of a game. An apt comparison could be bruising NFL running back Travis Henry who often does his best work in the fourth quarter after wearing down opposing tacklers over the previous three quarters.

And the football analogy is not lost on Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, who said this in early February when discussing Smart’s eventual return to the court:

“We have gotta be careful and make sure he is healthy. Marcus gets hit a lot as you know. He is physical. He plays basketball like a middle linebacker.”

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Smart’s absence is of course not be the sole cause of Boston’s defensive woes.

Forward Jayson Tatum, who normally brings length and solid effort to both ends of the floor, has not fully recovered from his earlier bout with COVID-19. The young superstar recently revealed that he was still having trouble with stamina despite being cleared to play in late January. His fatigue has been obvious at the close of certain games.

And center Tristan Thompson, who joined the team this offseason and did not get the benefit of training camp because of an injury, often looks lost and slow-footed on defense, particularly on switches.

But that does still not fully explain Boston’s lack of effort on the defensive end, which Boston fans hope will change the minute Smart returns to the lineup. After all, no one wants to get hit by a linebacker wearing a basketball jersey.