Marcus Smart's first game back in well over a month didn't go as he'd hoped, but he's happy with the effort.
With the guard on a minutes restriction limiting him to about 20-22 per game, you have to wonder if more time on the court would have helped him make the difference in the Boston Celtics' 121-109 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Off the bench, Smart had 19 points and hit 3-of-5 from 3-point range with two rebounds, two assists and a block. And he showed no hesitation to throw himself all over the court.
Watching what he's been missing, it was difficult for Celtics coach Brad Stevens to want to rest him.
"It's great to have him back out on the floor. I mean, the five-minutes stints suck. Alright?" Stevens said after the game.
"It's it is what it is. There's only so many ways to manage that, to have any rhythm at all, if you want them to be able to end the game and use his versatility defensively. But I know he'll be excited when that 20-minute deal is over. But I thought he looked good. I thought he did a lot of good things. And he'll only get better as he gets used to more game action."
Aside from what he brought to the box score, Smart brought back a clear organization helping Boston as another ballhandler. And despite his limitations, the time off didn't show any regression, hesitation or rust.
"It's like riding a bike, you know? I come back and just do what I do, you know, try to help my team win games," Smart said.
"We came out and we played, we ran things right, we got chances after chances. We just got to execute them better. And that's all you can ask from the players, you know? Like I said, our effort was there and I can live with the loss when our effort is there. I can't live with a loss when there's no effort and there's no chance for us to win."
The effort certainly was there from Smart. And one day, the minutes won't be restricted to match.
Here are some other notes from Brooklyn's win over Boston:
-- For all the issues Boston has had this season, a glaring one was revealed Thursday night: all roads out of the Eastern Conference seem like they go through Boston this year.
Irving's 40 points aside, James Harden had a double-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. They were without Kevin Durant and new addition Blake Griffin, but it didn't matter because their offense is so deep. Landry Shamet (18 points) and Joe Harris (12 points) showed that.
"I thought they did a great job of spacing and making us pay with their shooting around those guys. I mean, obviously, when Kyrie gets going like that, we've all seen that he's really special," Stevens said. "And Harden's super special in isolation and 1-on-1. And so, you have to pick your poison a little bit. But you know, credit all those different old guys that made big shots for them. That's a big reason why I think they're so unique, because they're one of the better shooting teams that's ever been assembled. And around those special 1-on-1 players, those guys are special shooters too that you're rotating to as well."
-- Not to harp on the bad, but it might be time to call what Jaylen Brown is going through a shooting rut.
Against Brooklyn he shot 5-for-23 from the field and was 3-for-12 (!!) from deep.
That's not to say he didn't contribute. His six assists, five rebounds and four steals were evidence that as he struggled to get into a rhythm, he could take a back seat and focus on defense with Smart back in the lineup and all five of their projected best players available. But this cold stretch hopefully isn't related to any of the knee issues that Brown's been dealing with this season.
-- One last nit-picky thing, because we've discussed this here before, but this was bad.
Boston went 63.6% from the line and missed eight free throws in the game. In such a close game, it's reasonable to think it could have been the difference and fair to call it unacceptable. The Celtics entered the game ranked No. 23 in the NBA in free-throw percentage, and apparently that's not going to get better after Thursday.
-- Next up, the Celtics get a break from games until Sunday, but will travel to Houston to face the Rockets for an 8 p.m. ET tip.
