The Houston Rockets‘ dominant 109-93 victory over the Boston Celtics on Monday night saw guard Marcus Smart flash double middle fingers in a celebration of his 3-point shot.
During the fourth quarter, Smart knocked down back-to-back three-pointers after the Celtics’ defense left him wide open. Right after the second shot went in, he turned toward the Celtics sideline and raised both middle fingers.
Marcus Smart Explains Explicit Gesture Celebration
After the game, Smart explained why he did the explicit gesture following a made 3-pointer. Smart said the celebration was a reaction fueled by pent-up emotions and trash talk coming from his former team’s bench.
“Just a lot of pent-up, I guess you can call it emotions. Plus, certain guys on the bench was talking. Didn’t know who. I just heard them say something, so I let them hear it back,” Smart said via Gio Rivera.
“Definitely felt good, the energy was there. They know what I can do. Reminded them again tonight,” he added.
He finished the game with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 20 minutes, helping the Rockets achieve a strong 7-1 start to the season.
While the NBA has yet to announce a penalty, Smart is anticipated to receive a fine from the league for the gesture.
Kevin Durant Explains How Marcus Smart’s 3-Point Shooting Helps The Rockets
Rockets star Kevin Durant knew how important Marcus Smart’s 3-point shooting was to Houston.
Durant said Smart and Fred VanVleet’s shooting threat put the Rockets in a good spot offensively, allowing other players to play to their strengths.
He then compared last season’s team to this year’s.
“Last year we started in our backcourt, Twin (Amen Thompson) and Josh Okogie. And a lot of times, those guys were being left at the three-point line, and their men were helping guard guys in the paint,” Durant said. “So when we’ve got Fred and Marcus Smart out there who can keep the defense honest at the three-point line, then Twin is just roaming around just doing everything, grabbing offensive rebounds, making assists, dunks, floaters, everything.”
“That put everybody into a good position. That settled everybody into what they do best. You’ve seen how efficient Alpe (Sengun) was tonight. Bari (Smith Jr.). Everybody’s just more efficient when they’re just in their roles, doing what they do. Everybody had to play point guard by committee last year. And I think having a few natural point guards on our team is going to help everybody.”
Smart is averaging 11.0 points per game for the Rockets. Across his first five games of the season, the veteran guard, who once won Defensive Player of the Year with the Celtics, has registered efficient shooting splits, making 47.4% of his field goals (18-of-38).
He has been notably accurate from long distance this season so far, connecting on 40.7% of his three-point attempts (11-of-27), and has excelled from the charity stripe by converting 88.9% of his free throws (8-of-9).
However, teams continue to not respect his shot, banking on his history of cold-shooting stretches during his time with the Celtics.
Nevertheless, the Rockets looked like a juggernaut in the first eight games of the season, winning seven of their games so far to sit atop the Western Conference standings.
Rockets Guard Explains Double Middle Finger Celebration