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Marcus Smart is expected to make his return for the Boston Celtics when they face the Chicago Bulls. Smart has missed the last two games due to an ankle injury. While talking to reporters, Smart was asked if he thought this ankle injury would be an issue for him throughout the season, to which he answered in the affirmative.
“Yeah, I definitely think it will, but not to the extent where I’m just missing mad games,” Smart said. “There’s definitely going to be times where I probably miss a game or two because of it, but nothing too crazy. Just like I was telling the guys, if this was the playoffs, I obviously would have played, but there’s no need to go ahead and chance it. We’re doing great and just continue to get the rest so I can be healthy later down the stretch.”
Smart later clarified that he won’t need surgery on his ankle.
“We’ve already done the MRIs. They’ve all said the same thing. No surgery is needed. It’s just a really bad bone bruise. On top of that, no rest from when the actual injury happened to constantly putting more trauma on it, so it’s just a matter of time until I can actually sit down and stay off my feet, but as of right now, that’s not going to happen.”
Smart Suffered Ankle Injury During Playoffs
Smart’s ankle injury was not the first one he had been dealing with during 2022, as he suffered another one while the Celtics were making their playoff run.
During Game 3 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals, Smart suffered what appeared to be an ankle sprain against the Miami Heat while going for an offensive rebound. Almost four minutes later, Smart returned to play.
Smart missed the next game – which the Celtics won despite his absence – but his ankle injury did not turn out to be too much of an issue for him for the rest of the Celtics’ playoff run, as he played every playoff game after that.
Smart Said His Previous Ankle Injury was Still Healing
On September 3, Bobby Manning of CLNS Media caught up with Smart, where Smart went into detail regarding how things were going recovery-wise with his ankle.
“My ankle is feeling better. It’s still healing, so I’m dealing with that,” Smart told Manning. “Just giving it as much rest as I can, but definitely back on the court. I’m definitely back into the action. It feels like yesterday we just started playing, we haven’t really missed a beat, but I’m definitely doing everything I can to be ready for next season and to go deeper. I’m pretty close (to 100%).”
Smart added that he knows what he had to do to get himself ready for the start of the season.
“Obviously, it’s September. You don’t want to be in June, July, May shape right now, so I’m trying not to go too crazy, but I’m really close, and I’ve been doing this going into my ninth season. So for me, I know exactly what I need and what I need to get myself ready, so I’ll so be there.”
