BOSTON — The Celtics will be without their Defensive Player of the Year in Marcus Smart as they look to even up their second-round series against the Bucks. Smart got hit a couple times in the Game 1 loss Sunday, which resulted in the thigh contusion that will keep him out of Game 2.
Boston Coach Ime Udoka said the team doesn’t expect Smart’s injury to be long-term, especially with the three-day break coming up between Games 2 and 3. Udoka said Derrick White will be in the starting lineup in Smart’s spot. Expect Payton Pritchard to also get some more minutes at point guard Tuesday.
“Swelling, pain, restricted movement,” Udoka said pregame of Smart. “So obviously, swelling and he got hit pretty hard. So just some limited movement that didn’t get better over the days as we thought it would.”
The Celtics fell to the Bucks in Game 1 to fall into a 1-0 hole in the best-of-seven series and lose home-court advantage. While the defense played well enough to win, Boston’s offensive ineptitude let to just 89 points and the loss at the Garden. Losing Smart is obviously a huge blow for the Celtics defensively, and they also lose his playmaking abilities on offense.
Udoka said White brings a lot of what Smart does on both sides of the ball because of his size and versatility. Of course, Smart is the Celtics’ emotional leader so that’ll be a huge hole to fill in a crucial postseason game.
“The beauty of having him is he checks a lot of those boxes and obviously Payton is one of our toughest guys, but you have a size disadvantage there,” Udoka said of White. “So you lose a little bit as far as that, but not a lot of drop off with Derrick in there other than the toughness nobody really brings that Marcus has.”
Expect more White minutes in Game 2, though a lot of playmaking duties will likely be shared with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. White hit a couple 3-pointers in Game 1 on his way to 10 points, which he said he wants to use as momentum going forward.
It’ll be intriguing to see how the Celtics adjust to life without Smart, at least temporarily. Pritchard should be first in line for the increased minutes at guard, which could be a benefit for the Celtics if he can hit some 3-pointers. The Bucks dare their opposition to knock down long-range shots, and that’s where Pritchard will have to do the most damage.
“That’s the benefit of Derrick, I think he does a lot of things well,” Udoka said. “Obviously it’s hard to make up for Marcus, specifically what he does for our team, but the scheme and coverage doesn’t change. It’s just Derrick is another big guard that we don’t lose a lot as far as size and versatility defensively. And then offensively, he’s very capable of scoring, running the plays and getting guys involved.”
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