Celtics’ Marcus Smart Could Be Sidelined Longer Than Day-To-Day

The Boston Celtics were without Marcus Smart among several other players for their 98-95 road loss to the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.

It was the second straight game Smart missed after sustaining a right ankle sprain this past Saturday against the Toronto Raptors.

While Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters prior to the game that Smart was still day-to-day, the veteran guard could be out longer than that.

In fact, Smart revealed there is currently no timetable for his return.

“None. I’m hoping for a week or two, but who knows?” Smart told reporters prior to Tuesday’s loss, per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. “I (don’t) want to go out there and rush back and then we’re in the same predicament a couple months from now, a couple days from now.”

The Celtics have already ruled out Smart for Thursday’s tilt against the New York Knicks.

The cautious approach in getting Smart back on the floor isn’t usually reserved for him. Smart usually tries to play through the bumps and bruises while the Celtics make sure to rest Al Horford and Robert Williams at least one game during back-to-backs.

Smart seems to be seeing the bigger picture here, hoping to be closer to full strength for when things matter the most than for games at the end of January and beginning of February.

Another two weeks on the sideline would have Smart back before the All-Star break with a built-in break around the corner. That might be the right move for Smart to make sure he’s feeling as close to 100% as possible.