The Boston Celtics received discouraging news about Marcus Smart's injury. After initial reports that the five-year veteran would only miss a couple of days, MRI revealed that the Smart is expected to miss the first round of the playoffs.
Source says that Marcus Smart waited on MRI because pain left him unable to undergo it before today. Confirmed a more serious oblique injury. He's out for Round 1 of the playoffs and team is gathering info to see if it’ll be longer than that.
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) April 10, 2019
Smart suffered the injury in the Celtics' game against the Orlando Magic a couple of days ago. The Celtics were still optimistic back then that he will be fine after seeing him walk back and forth inside the locker room. Unfortunately for Boston, the injury has now been determined to serious.
Other reports came out that Smart could be missing at least 4-6 weeks. Should that be the case, he won't be able to play in the second round of the playoffs if the Celtics indeed make it out of round one.
Boston will be facing the Indiana Pacers in the opening salvo of the playoffs which is set to begin this weekend.
Without Smart, Gordon Hayward is expected to play extended minutes for the Celtics. However, without one of their more capable defenders, Boston's team defense is expected to take a major hit, which could be a problem against the Pacers team that used balanced scoring to beat their opponents all season.
The Celtics have been dealing with various injuries to most of their key players, but all of them, except Smart, are expected to play in Game One of their seven-game series against the Pacers.
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