Brad Stevens Praises Marcus Smart For Defusing Jaylen Brown-Marcus Morris Incident

Brad Stevens’ biggest takeaway from the Jaylen Brown-Marcus Morris dustup was… Marcus Smart?

As you’ve probably seen by now, Morris shoved Brown on Thursday during the Boston Celtics’ 115-99 loss to the Miami Heat. And, perhaps surprisingly, it was Smart who broke up the incident, which reportedly stemmed from a play moments before when Brown lollygagged back on defense after missing (yet another) layup.

Stevens talked about the flareup Saturday ahead of his team’s matchup with the Orlando Magic, and the Celtics head coach praised Smart for defusing the situation.

“I looked at Smart breaking it up … talk about growth, holy smokes.”

(You can view Stevens’ full comments here)

While Stevens doesn’t want to make too much of the situation, it nevertheless was another low point in what’s been a disappointing junior season for Brown.

The 22-year-old is averaging just 12.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in what was supposed to be his true breakout campaign.