On Sunday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics extended their standings lead over the rest of the Eastern Conference with a 131-91 demolition of the Memphis Grizzlies at home. Tatum scored 34 points in the victory, helping Boston bounce back from their most embarrassing performance of the year in last week's home loss to the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-less Los Angeles Lakers.
Sunday's game against the Grizzlies marked the return of Marcus Smart to the TD Garden, where he was a member of the Celtics for nine seasons since being drafted by the franchise in 2014. Although Smart was unable to play Sunday due to injury, the team was still sure to honor his time there with a tribute video.
After the game, Jayson Tatum got one hundred percent real on the emotional return of his former teammate.
“It was great to see the reception that he got… He was the heart and soul of this organization… He gave his blood, sweat, and tears every single night,” said Tatum, via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter.
Marcus Smart indeed played a crucial role for the Celtics on their many deep playoff runs during his tenure with the franchise. Unfortunately, he was unable to bring home an NBA championship with Boston and was ironically traded by the franchise in the hopes of boosting their chances of doing so.
Still, it seems that Celtics fans won't soon forget the energy and passion he brought to TD Garden for nearly a decade.
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