It goes without saying that the Boston Celtics have been plagued with unfortunate injuries down the final stretch of the 2017-18 NBA season. The backcourt took a tremendous hit with the injuries to point guards Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart.
Although Irving has been officially ruled out of the playoffs, there is still hope for Smart to make his return. According to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports, he could potentially be cleared to play at some point in late April:
Sources: Celtics guard Marcus Smart had reevaluation on torn right UCL Monday in New York and is expected to receive clearance to return to game action at six-week mark of surgery (April 27). Smart has been cleared to start light non-contact shooting.
The news comes to the delight of Celtics fans who have already had to deal with season-ending injuries to their franchise players in Irving and small forward Gordon Hayward. Smart suffered the torn UCL last month and had surgery soon thereafter with the hopes of making his return by the postseason. While it is clear he has made tremendous strides in his healing process, he will still be unavailable for the first round of the playoffs.
That said, Boston will need to make it to the Conference Semifinals in order to have Smart's services. The second round of the playoffs is slated to begin on April 30/May 1, however, they could also potentially start as early as April 28/29. Regardless, it seems to have fallen in line perfectly with Smart's reported timetable. If Boston is to make a serious run at the Eastern Conference Finals, they are going to need all the help they can get.
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