In a game where Jayson Tatum struggled to get anything going offensively, his Boston Celtics teammates Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart stepped up for him.

Brown carried the offensive load  for Boston in their season opener against the New York Knicks. For his part, Smart made sure it won't be wasted easily as he sent the game to overtime with an epic triple at the buzzer.

With the Knicks leading 116-113 with just 4.8 seconds remaining on the clock, the Celtics made a last-ditch effort to extend the game. Smart didn't fail his teammates, despite initial fears that there's not much time left after Tatum slipped upon receiving the ball and passing it to Dennis Schroder.

Here's the full sequence that led to the epic play:

Marcus Smart continues to prove that he's the heart and soul of the Celtics, and while it seemed they had no chance with the clock winding down, he pulled the team back from the dead.

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The Celtics signed Smart to a four-year, $77 million extension in the offseason. Clearly, that decision was the right thing to do considering what the veteran guard brings to the table.

Aside from leadership and being a voice in the locker room, what Smart does on the court both on offense and defense is critical to the Celtics' success.