Projected to come back by Game 6 of the Boston Celtics first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Marcus Smart is making use of one of his best traits as a spark plug off the bench — patience.

The same patience he needs to have before entering the game or getting his hands on a steal is the one he's been applying waiting to be at 100 percent before rejoining his teammates.

“It’s going to be huge,” starting point guard Terry Rozier said of Smart's potential return, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Smart has had a knack for coming up with steals since he entered the league, a craft he has honed over time to make himself into one of the most feared one-on-one defenders in the NBA.

“When he puts the ball in this hand, this is what’s coming. When he decides to attack this way, I know what’s coming next, because he’s done it over and over and I’ve watched him do it,”  Smart said of his approach to one-on-one defense. “So now, you kind of bait him to thinking, ‘OK, I can do my move now,’ like you’re a possum. You kind of play dead and then boom! You pop up on him. So I make him think, ‘I can get to my move, I got him beat.’ Then out of nowhere, I strike.

“That’s why you call it the ‘Cobra Strike.’”

Smart's “cobra strike” reference calls back to 2016, when the likeness was first generated during a CSN broadcast, once Smart dove to steal a rolling ball from then-Brooklyn Nets point guard Donald Sloan.

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“When Donald Sloan tried to roll the ball up and I just pounced on it, it was one of those things where you know what they’re trying to do and I know the distance between if I jump from this distance, I know how far and how long it will take me to get to another [point],” Smart says now. “With my wingspan – I have a 6’9” wingspan – I’m long enough to adjust it. So when he was rolling the ball up, instantly, as soon as he took his eyes off, I snapped.”

The Celtics will need that same minute attention to detail to navigate this postseason, making Smart a potential X-factor coming into the equation with the series tied 2-2 and plenty of questions to address.