Marcus Smart provided quite the highlight reel for the Celtics on Saturday night.
The guard dropped a career-high 37 points including 11 3-pointers, a new franchise record, in Boston’s 123-119 loss to the Phoenix Suns at TD Garden. The C’s have lost three in a row, but Smart helped give his team a chance to win despite the outcome.
Smart typically is known for his gritty defense and willingness to put his body on the line in order to make a play. But he shined on offense and was able to provide a spark to a team that looked lifeless in the beginning of the game.
But just when did the guard realize he was going to have a good game?
“Right away,” Smart said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “We ran a play, they left me open so I pulled up and shot it. I thought, ‘it’s going to be a long night for them.'”
As for his head coach, he’s a fan of when Smart shoots the ball.
“He obviously got a lot of attempts tonight,” Brad Stevens told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin after the game. “He had a lot of opportunities that were pretty open. Then at the end, he was just trying to come back. So, it’s a function of everything there. But he’s a good shooter and we’re happy when he shoots it. Especially when he’s open. He doesn’t miss very often.”
Here are some other notes from Saturday’s Celtics-Suns game:
— Two of the three losses came against teams that are below .500. And Stevens pointed to the defense that needs be a “bit tighter and better.”
But the head coach believes this skid can be used as motivation.
“This will be a good stretch when we look back on it because it will force improvement,” Stevens said, per The Athletic’s Jay King.
“Sometimes you go through runs like this,” Stevens said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Our defensive system … we just need to be a little bit tighter and better.”
— Gordon Hayward had 22 points with seven rebounds and as many assists, including 11 in the fourth quarter. But he missed a crucial alley-oop layup with 35 seconds left in the game. Had he made it, Boston would have been down just three points. But Stevens isn’t panicking about the forward’s on-court confidence.
“He was 11-of-15 (shooting) on Wednesday night,” he said, per CLNS Media’s Sierra Goodwill.
Looking back, Hayward believes he should dunked it rather than try to go for the layup.
“I should have just went up and dunked it,” he said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “That was the mistake.”
— The Celtics have lost six of their last eight games.
“We just have to be as good as we can be. We’re not gonna get too down on ourselves,” Stevens told Chin “It’s a long journey. I think this is exposing some things … and we have to make sure we get as good as we can, control what we can control and I’m excited about getting back to work tomorrow.”
— Devin Booker continued to be impressive against the Celtics, totaling a game-high 39 points. So what is it about TD Garden that makes him go off?
“I don’t know, man,” he told Chin postgame. “Obviously I love playing over here. The fans are unbelievable. The energy in here, you feel like you’re in a history of basketball building.”
— The Celtics are back in action Monday when they welcome LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers to Boston. Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
