Smart vs. Curry: Good Hustle, Or Dangerous Play?

[Roy H.]

Curry injured his foot at the 4:17 mark of the second quarter when his leg got rolled on by the Celtics' Marcus Smart as the two wrestled for a loose ball.

Kerr was shown yelling at Smart after the play.

"I thought it was a dangerous play," Kerr said. "I thought Marcus dove into Steph, and that's what I was upset about. A lot of respect for Marcus. He's a hell of a player, a gamer, a competitor. I coached him in the World Cup a few summers ago. We talked after the game and we're good. But I thought it was a dangerous play."

Smart explained that he didn't see Curry and was just going after the ball.

"I saw the ball, I dove for the ball, trying to make a play," Smart said. "Unfortunately that occurred."

He added: "I'm sure I'm going to get called dirty. But I know who I am. ... I play very hard and I leave everything on the court. ... My teammates, my colleagues, they know I'm not a dirty player."

What's your take?

[JohnBoy65]

I watched the clip a handful of times this morning. It's a hustle play, and it's what Marcus smart does. To me if you do something dirty it's got to be intentional. There was obviously no intention of hurting Steph there.

[A Future of Stevens]

Draymond approved of the play after the game. Don't know if that hurts or helps his case.

I tend to agree. If Smart was only out here diving at the ball near the legs of stars, maybe. Smart goes after almost every single lose ball in every game he plays. Go for the ball or get out of the way Steph.

[Roy H.]

I watched the clip a handful of times this morning. It's a hustle play, and it's what Marcus smart does. To me if you do something dirty it's got to be intentional. There was obviously no intention of hurting Steph there.

Does "reckless" fit in anywhere?  Is this akin to a guy trying to make a failed attempt on the ball when another guy is in the air?

For the record, I'm fully on Marcus' side.

[goz421]

I'm amazed this is even a conversation. Back in the day when I played this was a pat on
the back hustle play all day long.


What is wrong with the NBA?   Want to play meaningless sissy pick up basketball all season.

[jambr380]

I definitely see Kerr's side of it, but don't think there was anything technically wrong with what Marcus did. Reckless probably is a word that can describe Marcus on occasion - definitely don't think he goes out and tries to hurt people, but hardly anybody has his level of intensity and commitment on the defensive side of the ball / going for loose balls. Hopefully Curry is alright and a big deal isn't made of this, as the Marcus we saw last night is a perennial all-star level player.

[LilRip]

Not a dirty play, not a dangerous play, just an unfortunate situation. The ball was loose and he made a play on it. You see this play happen all the time.

Remember Rondo diving for the loose ball against the Magic? Was that a dirty play? I bring that up because the ball was near a guy’s legs too.

[Moranis]

It is both.  It was good hustle and it was dangerous.  Dangerous does not mean dirty.  It was not dirty.  It was perfectly within the rules, but it is pretty clearly dangerous to be diving at people's legs.

[jbpats]

loose ball, Smart dove like he always does and Curry got lazy and unfortunately paid the price. If Curry put a better effort in he would have been fine at the end of the scrum.

Not a dirty play at all and should not have got a flagrant for it. NBA protecting its stars and penalizing hustle, it's a shame

[tonydelk]

This was not even close to a dirty play.  Marcus makes this play every game.  If it was reckless, dirty or even unnecessary as Draymond called it then a found would have been called, the video would have been reviewed. 

It wasn't unnecessary it was unfortunate.  Unfortunate that Steph got hurt. Smart is tenacious and sacrifices his body for every loose ball.  Everyone in the league knows this.  Especially Steph.

I hope Steph is OK but I'm OK with that sort of effort.  Especially with how every win and loss is huge why the Cs fight for the best playoff spot.

[Celtics2021]

It was a loose ball that Marcus was able to get to.  Sucks that Curry got hurt, but neither player had position they were entitled to.  Smart didn’t even make contact with Curry’s knee, which is what Kerr was concerned about.

[Vermont Green]

I understand why people want to take a look at this but after watching the video again, I don't see anything wrong with what Smart did, nothing, period.  Not reckless, not dangerous, not dirty.  And someone tried to compare this to a failed attempt to block a shot, something desperation or unnecessary (fake hustle?).  But Smart got the ball, got it to Tatum.  It was a successful play at a point in the game where it mattered.

This is exactly what every coach would want every player to do, period.  I am sure it is what Kerr would like his players to do.  It is probably what Kerr would have done himself back in the day, or at least his coach would have wanted him to do.

The play where Smart blocked a shot and fouled (I think it was Thompson) with his foot if far more debatable than diving for a lose ball.  Smart got a flagrant for the "foot block" (never seen that before).  I thought that play deserved a flagrant, that was fair enough, but even that play was not egregious.  Smart was falling to the floor.  It was as much a collision as anything but the result was a kick to the arm so I felt the call was fair.

[RMO]

I watched the clip a handful of times this morning. It's a hustle play, and it's what Marcus smart does. To me if you do something dirty it's got to be intentional. There was obviously no intention of hurting Steph there.

Does "reckless" fit in anywhere?  Is this akin to a guy trying to make a failed attempt on the ball when another guy is in the air?

For the record, I'm fully on Marcus' side.

Maybe if it was late in the game and the outcome wasn't in doubt than I might agree that it was reckless.  The ball was loose and he went after it.  It was early and the game was close.  If it hadn't led to an injury I don't think anyone would criticize him for making that play.

It's unfortunate that he got injured but it's not a dirty play.  It's probably being questioned because we don't see a lot of players make those kind of plays anymore.

[mr. dee]

I've seen a couple of morons who's advocating to ban the dive for loose balls. As if the league isn't soft enough already

[bdm860]

If Tommy was alive, he'd probably have given Smart a Tommy Point for that play.