BOSTON – The Boston Celtics were without the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Tuesday night as the team ruled out Marcus Smart for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Milwaukee Bucks due to a right quadriceps contusion.
Smart initially got hurt in the first half of Game 1 on Sunday, but he came back.
“It’s a little bit of both, swelling and pain, restricted movement,” Boston coach Ime Udoka said before the team’s 109-86 Game 2 victory that evened the series at 1-1. “A limited movement that didn’t improve as days went by like we thought it would.”
With three days off between Game 2 and Game 3 in Milwaukee on Saturday, Udoka hopes Smart will be better by the time the Celtics take the floor again after Tuesday’s game.
Derrick White he started in Smart’s place in Game 2.
“I think he does a lot of things well. Obviously, it’s hard to compensate Marcus specifically for what he does for our team,” Udoka said.
“Derrick is another great shooting guard that you don’t lose a lot with in terms of size and versatility defensively. Then offensively, he’s very capable of scoring, running plays and getting the ball to guys. The good thing about having him is he controls a lot of those balls.” plays.
“There’s not much difference with Derrick there other than the toughness that nobody really brings like Marcus.”
When Smart left the game in the third quarter, he needed to pedal the stationary bike before returning with 8 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He played until Udoka took out his starters with 1:59 left in a 101-89 loss.
In 33 minutes, Smart finished with 10 points and six assists.
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Without Smart, Celtics even the series; wait to play the J3