On Sunday afternoon, former Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will hear plenty of cheers at TD Garden. Although the ex-Celtic is now with the Memphis Grizzlies, he'll be embraced like he never left.
Of course, Smart didn't choose to go, as Boston included him in a three-team trade this offseason to acquire center Kristaps Porzingis. This surprising move has worked well for the C's so far, as they boast an NBA-best 37-12 record and are in first place in the Eastern Conference.
Marcus Smart's season after Grizzlies-Celtics trade
As for Smart and the gritty Grizzlies, it's been an uphill battle. Memphis had hopes of pairing star point guard Ja Morant with Smart, yet Morant was suspended for the first 25 games of the season and then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury shortly after. Along with Morant and a handful of other banged-up Grizzlies, Smart also caught the injury bug. He's currently out for at least two more weeks with a finger injury, meaning he can't play in his Boston homecoming.
However, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla knows that no setback can keep Smart down for too long. He joked about Smart's hustle with the media before the Sunday showdown, via Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
“During a timeout—I don’t know if his hand still hurts—but he can dive on the floor for a loose ball and roll one out,” Mazzulla said.
The Celtics and Grizzlies have already met one time in the 2023-24 season, and Smart was injured for that contest as well. Boston beat Memphis for the fifth straight time after escaping with a 102-100 win in mid-November. Like a majority of their games this season, the Grizzlies were down multiple starters then.
On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were without multiple starters, too. Except, they managed to upset the Celtics in Boston, 114-105, in the absence of 2024 All-Stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Celtics will try not to repeat their recent mistakes versus the undermanned Grizzlies.
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