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In a fashion almost fitting for Marcus Smart these days, the veteran guard managed to be the hero and the villain all in one gut-wrenching night for the Boston Celtics. On one hand, Smart led the way with a team-high six assists and nailed a go-ahead 3-pointer with a smidge over two minutes remaining in regulation. On the other hand, Smart made a not-so-smart foul in the closing seconds that opened the door for Mavs star Luka Doncic to put the nail in the coffin of Celtics faithful — which he did, hitting a game-winner as time expired.
Yet, while talks of Smart’s late-game miscues on Saturday night have certainly trickled into the next morning, his comments from a handful of nights ago continue to make the most waves.
Tatum Responds to Smart
Shortly after Boston’s 107-104 loss to Dallas, teammate Jayson Tatum stepped to the podium to meet with reporters where he finally broke his silence on the situation regarding Smart. A seemingly peeved Tatum had this to say about Smart’s public call-out from November 1st.
“Personally, I mean, we talked about it — individually and had a team meeting, I guess. But I know how to play basketball. I’ve been doing it a long time, and I’m pretty successful at it,” Tatum stated.
To jog your memory, Smart made comments critiquing both Tatum and fellow All-Star teammate Jaylen Brown for their unwillingness to pass the basketball late in crunch time. Evidently, Tatum had some pushback towards Smart’s judgment.
“I’ve always made the right plays — not perfect, I’ve got things I can work on,” Tatum admitted. “I think that’s the good part about that. You know, as young as I am, as good as people think I am, I got a lot to improve on, and I’ll be the first one to say that. But I’m always [going to] play the game the right way and the way that I was taught and the way that I’ve been playing my whole life. So that’s never gonna change.”
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‘I Think You Know the Answer’
Tatum’s biggest gripe appears to be less with Smart’s comments and more with the fact that they weren’t kept in-house.
“I think, you asking that question, I think you know,” Tatum said when asked if Smart’s comments should have stayed private. “I think there are certain things that, obviously, as a group, that we would … you know, there’s certain things that I wouldn’t come on here and tell you guys about our game plan, you know, specifically. But I think the moral of it is, it happened. And you can’t change it. We’re still a team, we’re still trying to figure it out, we’re still trying to win games.”
Tatum isn’t the only one in the Celtics building a bit miffed at Smart’s decision to take things public. President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens insinuated to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich” that he’d prefer Smart “say it directly to the person,” adding that he believes “that’s the way it should be.”
It’s evident Smart’s words have caused a bit of a rift in the locker room. Yet, while it definitely provided headline-grabbing content and could highlight a chink in the armor of Boston’s core, it’s doubtful the Celtics can’t come back from it — that is, if they start to win basketball games.
Miscues like the one Smart made against the Mavericks certainly won’t help matters.
“There was no strategy; it was not supposed to be a foul,” head coach Ime Udoka said of Smart’s late-game decision. “A few of the guys asked me coming out of the timeout, I let ’em know, and just a mistake there. But that’s on me, I’ve gotta let everybody know and make sure they know. Obviously a five, six-second differential, we want that last shot. So I’ve gotta communicate that to everybody so everybody knows.”
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