That sound you heard Thursday morning was Jay Williams — and basketball enthusiasts everywhere — laughing about the comments Marcus Smart made Wednesday night after the Boston Celtics’ 117-109 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Smart wasn’t happy with the officiating, specifically the 21 free throws Sixers center Joel Embiid attempted en route to scoring a game-high 42 points. Boston attempted just 20 free throws as a team, while Philadelphia went 36 of 45 from the charity stripe.
Frustration over free-throw discrepancy is commonplace in the NBA, but Smart’s insistence that Embiid “flails” is pretty funny, largely because the Celtics guard himself is known for the occasional flop.
“The best I love about this whole thing is you have one of the best actors in the NBA calling out another actor because he’s mad because he acted better than Marcus Smart that evening,” Williams said Thursday on ESPN Radio’s “Keyshawn, JWill & Zubin.” “Marcus Smart flops, too.
“It makes me think, who are some of the biggest actors in the NBA: Trae Young is on there, because the way he gets to the free throw line is ridiculous. Joel Embiid. Marcus Smart. Do you put LeBron (James) in that category a little bit?”
Embiid also saw the absurdity in Smart’s comments, which might’ve been accurate on the surface but ultimately difficult to defend given the latter’s reputation across the league.
Nevertheless, the Celtics will look to bounce back Friday night when the teams square off in a rematch at Wells Fargo Center.
Boston has dropped two of three since the postponement of three games for COVID-19-related issues.
