Despite his drama earlier in the year, Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics feels that his team is indomitable and that they can “beat anybody.”
Smart on Celtics dropping 134 points against 2nd ranked Thunder D: “We can compete with anybody.”
— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) February 3, 2019
NBC Sports echoes Marcus Smart's newfound confidence in his team's ability to play with the best, especially right after Boston's 134-129 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“For most of Smart’s career, the biggest knock on the Boston Celtics guard was his inability to knock down long-range shots. But today, Smart is anything but a 3-point shooting liability. But what we are witnessing now is Smart doing it more consistently which speaks to his improvement as being anything but a fluke.”
Smart has had a pretty impressive — albeit not impressive enough — season so far.
Statistically, Smart is shooting a respectable 36.7 percent from 3-point range, which is a career-best mark if he can maintain it for the rest of the season. In January, Smart shot 33-for-77 (42.9 percent) from beyond the arc. And in two games this month, he’s 5-for-11 (45.4 percent) on 3’s. That’s a significant jump from his 3-point shooting in October (17.6 percent), November (37.0 percent) and December (32.2 percent).
Furthermore, according to NBC Sports, this means that leaving Smart “open to shoot” is no longer a wise strategy.
“Smart’s ability to consistently make more three-pointers has been among the keys to Boston’s much-improved offense as the season has progressed. Teams can no longer double-team or tilt towards his teammates and be assured that Smart won’t raise up for a shot and make them pay.”
The Celtics will next take to the court against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 5th.
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