Boston’s Marcus Smart sings praises of shorthanded Celtics’ bench mob in near-win over Bucks

The Flower Mound native had plenty of things to say about the next men up Thursday night.

The Boston Celtics looked like they planned to punt on their penultimate game of the season after pulling All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and veteran big man Al Horford to rest in Thursday night’s tilt with the defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks with starting center Robert Williams III and reserve guard Nik Stauskas already out injured.

But the Celtics’ normal bench players stepped up in a big way and very nearly won the game on the road anyway, holding a lead under the 3-minute mark of the fourth quarter. After the game, veteran point guard Marcus Smart had loads to praise regarding his teammates’ performance.

“It just shows the progression that we’ve been making as a team individually,” he explained.