Marcus Smart missed a buzzer-beating three-pointer as time expired, but if the Lakers could actually shoot free throws (Josh Fart missed a pair with nineteen seconds left and Kentavious Callbrick-Poop missed a pair with five seconds left), Smart wouldn’t have even had a chance to take (and miss) the game-winner, so I consider this one a wash. I guess I’m not sure that I would have Smart take the last attempt given that he has Kyrie “Game Seven” Irving on his team, and I especially wouldn’t have him take a three-pointer even though he had already hit a few (3-of-9 before the last attempt), but now that I’ve said that, Celtics fans will probably rush in here to defend him as having “heart” and “confidence” and say that they want him taking the big shot 10/10 times.
Let’s just say that the Lakers probably breathed a sigh of relief that Smart didn’t even look to pass the ball during the final possession.
I stood by my principles and did not show the clip of the missed game-winner. Sure, its inclusion would help create a coherent narrative for the video to follow, but I’m not about creating narratives. I’m about showing a player’s highlights in a concise, easy-to-digest format, free from the greater context of the game where the plays occurred. Narratives are for the blowhards over at ESPN.