This wasn’t supposed to happen. The guy who shot 28% from three (on over 330 attempts) during the regular season wasn’t supposed to go seven of ten from the threezone in a playoff game. Not only that, but, if we’re being honest here, this is the best game of Marcus Smart’s NBA career, and he did it in extremely adverse circumstances: the team’s best player is out, they’re on the road, and Kevin Love buried them with threes in the first half.
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“B-b-but he’s a flopper, so I don’t have to acknowledge his achievements!” I murmur insanely to myself as I type the words of the video description. “And his face is ugly, and he still can’t shoot, yeah, I still really hate Marcus Smart even though he played well! I must let Celtics fans know that this guy is actually trash and they’re too blinded by homerism to see it!” I don’t realize it, but tears are pouring down my face.
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We would do well to remember that Marcus Smart has never been a good shooter at any point in his career, and that this performance has many of the characteristics of a fluke. Still, he kinda just won the game for his team by being the kind of legitimate two-way threat that Isaiah Thomas could never be, so, you know, that’s cool. I grudgingly admit that my respect for Marcus Smart went up a tiny bit after this game.