The Boston Celtics managed to snap their three-game losing streak Wednesday night. Unfortunately, this feat was not accomplished without any negative repercussions as starting point guard Marcus Smart revealed a stunning admission following their outing against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year “re-tweaked” his right ankle injury according to The Athletic's Jared Weiss. Smart's ankle injury previously sidelined him for 11 straight games just a few weeks back.
Though the news is certainly a bit disheartening for fans to hear, Weiss would add in his report that Marcus Smart himself noted that while he certainly feels some discomfort, to him “everything is good.”
Since returning from his ankle injury back on February 15, the Celtics have gone just 5-4 and have registered one instance where they've seen wins in two consecutive games. Throughout this stretch, Boston has surrendered a whopping 114.8 points to their opponents and have been on the losing side of four of their last six contests.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla has suggested that the ball club must look to hone in on their transition defense, offensive rebounding efforts, and free throw rates if they wish to get back to the level of success they were producing at earlier on in the season.
Joe Mazzulla: “Our defense in the last three games, since the All-Star break, is 30th in transition, we’re 25th in free throw rate and we’re 25th in offensive rebounding. So amongst all the other stuff, if we fix those three things we’ll be back to normal.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) March 8, 2023
With their recent stretch of mediocrity, the Celtics have been passed by the surging Milwaukee Bucks atop the Eastern Conference leaderboard. They now reside in the second seed in the standings with an overall record of 46-21.
The team will now gear up for a six-game road trip, with their next matchup coming against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
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