Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will miss his seventh straight game on Sunday afternoon against the Charlotte Hornets, but Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said that Smart is making progress after dealing with infections in both of his eyes:
Brad Stevens on Marcus Smart:
"Marcus Smart is doing better. He was … going to the facility tonight to get on the floor and shoot a little bit.”
Noted Smart hasn’t done much since pretty much Dec. 1. Plan is to ramp him back up. Called Xmas day “unlikely."
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) December 22, 2019
Stevens adds Marcus Smart is finally progressing after infections in both eyes. Says Smart is at the team’s facility today. Assumes he won’t play Wednesday but hasn’t spoken to him yet so he won’t rule him out.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 22, 2019
The last report was not nearly as encouraging, with Stevens even saying that doctors called Smart's infection one of the worst they had ever seen (via John Karalis of MassLive):
“The last report I got, they didn’t think they’ve seen one this bad,” Stevens said. “He’s just really had a tough go about it. So I don’t know when he’ll be back. He’s still not around here.”
The team hasn’t given an exact cause for the infection. It originally began in one eye, but has since spread to both. The original diagnosis had Smart missing up to 10 days, but it is clear he will miss more than that. Danny Ainge told 98.5′s Toucher & Rich that he was hoping Smart would return by Christmas, but that may be a optimistic.
Ainge's hopes appear to have been more realistic, though Smart is likely questionable for the Christmas Day game in Toronto against the Raptors.
Smart was having another fine season as a key glue guy prior to the injury, averaging 11.8 points, 4.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds while playing typically excellent defense.
The Celtics have been playing very shorthanded lately, as Gordon Hayward also remains out while Robert Williams will miss at least two more weeks due to a hip injury. Nevertheless, Boston scratched out consecutive wins against the Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons, and they will go for three in a row on Sunday against the Hornets.
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