Smart out up to two rounds!

[angryguy77]

With the way the NBA milks the playoffs, he'll be back by game 5 of the 1st round.

[MattyIce]

With the way the NBA milks the playoffs, he'll be back by game 5 of the 1st round.

although they do in fact milk the playoffs, amount of games missed is based on time to typically recover and then translated to games missed...it's not like the milking of playoffs was just introduced 

although i do expect Smart to be on the low end

[Big333223]

Ridiculous. Of course you should rest your best players with two games to go and nothing to gain.

 Especially Smart, who doesn't even know how to protect himself. Stevens looks like a fool for this.

I don't understand this take at all.

Milwaukee played all their starters for game 81 when the Bucks had nothing to play for.

Same for Toronto and they played everyone but Lowry in the finale.

Curry, Cousins, and Draymond played game 81 for the Warriors, and Durant and Thompson played the finale.

Basically every other team had some interest in seeding in the game 81 or 82 so I can't find a single example of a coach this season partaking in this supposedly common practice of sitting all their important people as soon as seeding is set.

[libermaniac]

Ridiculous. Of course you should rest your best players with two games to go and nothing to gain.

 Especially Smart, who doesn't even know how to protect himself. Stevens looks like a fool for this.

I don't understand this take at all.

Milwaukee played all their starters for game 81 when the Bucks had nothing to play for.

Same for Toronto and they played everyone but Lowry in the finale.

Curry, Cousins, and Draymond played game 81 for the Warriors, and Durant and Thompson played the finale.

Basically every other team had some interest in seeding in the game 81 or 82 so I can't find a single example of a coach this season partaking in this supposedly common practice of sitting all their important people as soon as seeding is set.

Ya, I don't get this either.  He could've hurt himself in practice or in the first minute of the playoffs.  He's a basketball player ... HE PLAYS BASKETBALL.  Sometimes basketball players get hurt.  Blaming Stevens is silly.

[Tr1boy]

Who starts now

Brown or Hayward?

[CF033]

The latest is that Smart is going to be out 4-6 weeks so it's possible we may not see him again this year.

[KGs Knee]

Who starts now

Brown or Hayward?

Brown, as he's better equipped to defend opposing guards.

Ridiculous. Of course you should rest your best players with two games to go and nothing to gain.

Especially Smart, who doesn't even know how to protect himself. Stevens looks like a fool for this.

Yeah, as far as I am concerned this should be the nail in the coffin for Brad.  He just isn't a good decision maker, let alone being entirely incapable of managing the egos of star talent.

[philr13]

The latest is that Smart is going to be out 4-6 weeks so it's possible we may not see him again this year.

If he's included in a trade this summer, for Davis maybe, we may not see him again period.

[Big333223]

Who starts now

Brown or Hayward?

Brown, as he's better equipped to defend opposing guards.

I agree here. And even though I'm kind of down on Hayward, his ability to run the offense with the second unit becomes even more important with no Smart.

[Fafnir]

*sigh* so the fire brad threads are going to be a thing this off season if we don't win a title aren't they.

[gpap]

https://twitter.com/AdamHimmelsbach/status/1116148157526814720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1116148157526814720&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Fboston-celtics

Have been hearing that despite the 4-6 week timetable on the Celtics' press release, the belief is that it's a 3-5 week injury for Marcus Smart.

Well, there's that at least, and knowing how tough Smart is he'll probably push that earlier timeline. Maybe he will be able to be back in the middle of the series versus Milwaukee, just like last year.

Well he did come back towards the beginning of his timeline for the thumb injury last year. Nobody doubts his toughness. That said, at some point its a matter of effectiveness. An oblique injury I'd imagine would impact somebody like Smart more than a thumb injury would.

I've always thought of Smart as a fake tough guy.  Playing physical on defense doesn't make you tough especially when you flop as much as he does.  I remember him writhing on the floor in his 2nd season(?) like he'd been shot and it turns out just to be a high ankle sprain.  Now his MRI gets delayed because the pain is too bad.

There's nothing fake about Smart when it comes to toughness. Not sure what your criteria is for being a "tough guy" but Marcus is as tough as they come. He's shown that time and time again. And yes, being a physical defender definitely makes you tough. It's the ones who aren't physical on the court and then pretend that they're getting into a "fight" with another player that are pansies.

a torn oblique is much more different than his thumb, if not properly taken care of he might also have issues with his back. As much as i hope he comes back soon, he really needs to rest it up . He is far from "fake" tough guy, just because he flops i don't think that takes anything away from him.

I didn't say anything about the severity of his injury. I am responding to someone labeling him as a fake tough guy. Smart has been with the Celts since 2014. I think by now, we've seen enough of him to know how tough he is.

[gpap]

*sigh* so the fire brad threads are going to be a thing this off season if we don't win a title aren't they.

Doubtful. Ainge and Grousbeck have made it pretty clear that Stevens is the last one to blame for any shortcomings.

I think he definitely could've done a better job this season. That said, I don't think he deserves to be fired. At least not yet.

[Donoghus]

*sigh* so the fire brad threads are going to be a thing this off season if we don't win a title aren't they.

Kyrie & Brad will be the two scapegoats in these parts.

[Fafnir]

*sigh* so the fire brad threads are going to be a thing this off season if we don't win a title aren't they.

Kyrie & Brad will be the two scapegoats in these parts.

Yeah that much is clear, after all in this very thread he's to blame for the injury.

This season has gotten so messy with Kyrie I fully expect him to be in the doghouse forever no matter what happens with his FA and the playoffs.

[angryguy77]

*sigh* so the fire brad threads are going to be a thing this off season if we don't win a title aren't they.

As there should be. Teams with lesser talent are playing better than Boston is.