Maybe it was because the Boston Celtics dropped a game on his birthday, or maybe it was just that Boston never really dug in against the Utah Jazz Friday, but guard Marcus Smart was very displeased with how his team played in the Celtics’ 99-94 loss on Mar. 6.
A combination of outstanding defense by Utah and poor shot selection by Boston saw the Celtics shoot just 37.2 % from the floor and 27.8 % overall.
Worse, there were several long and ugly stretches where Boston failed to capitalize on forcing twice as many (18) turnovers as the Celtics committed (12).
And while there have been plenty of examples where perhaps the Texan defensive menace has focused his ire in the wrong direction — such as his recent, $35,000 outburst at game officials — his words about his team’s performance on Friday were probably at least a little warranted.
“Our effort was shit,” said the Flower Mound native via The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
“We gave them the first couple punches and then, after that, our effort died down. We picked it up towards the end, but it was too late at that time. We definitely couldn’t make a shot. They did a great job of coming out and executing all the way through, and that really put us on our heels.”
While head coach Brad Stevens tried to play up the positives of the loss as he usually does in such situations, the Oklahoma State product wasn’t buying it. Rudy Gobert’s defensive chops require crisp offense and execution, and the team simply didn’t produce it when it was needed.
To their credit, they were down two of their best players in Jaylen Brown — out with a strained hamstring — and Gordon Hayward, who contused his knee in the team’s loss to Brooklyn earlier in the week.
Asked Marcus Smart about Brad Stevens saying #Celtics had good effort in loss. He strongly disagreed, adding we don't "sugarcoat things" pic.twitter.com/2LxrKnsmdQ
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) March 7, 2020
But to Smart, that was just a bigger reason why it was imperative to be the aggressor.
“We’ve got to continue to keep our [foot] on people’s necks when we have it there,” counseled Smart.
“We can’t ease up, we can’t come out and let those guys get into a rhythm. We’ve gotta continue to keep the pressure downhill even when Kemba [Walker]’s not out there. He’s a great off-the-ball player, getting downhill, creating.”
“But we have other guys that can do it, and we have to continue to do it every night for four quarters,” he added.
After the avoidable losses against the Nets and now the Jazz — both at home after an outstanding February full of tough wins on the road — the race for the East’s second seed is starting to look difficult when it was seemingly just out of reach a week ago.
For Boston to maximize its postseason odds, they’ll need to play the connected, ubuntu-esque brand of ball they were for much of the season that has strangely evaporated over the recent home stretch.
For the team’s longest-tenured player, this isn’t much of a problem in the abstract — it’s the execution that may end up being the problem.
“We believe in every last one of us in this locker room,” offered Smart. “So we just have to get it together, plain and simple.”
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