The Boston Celtics already had their hands full on Monday night. No Paul George. No reprieve on the second night of a back-to-back on the road. Then came Marcus Smart.
Former beloved friend of the program, Smart embraced his new Houston Rockets uniform. Like a gray wolf circling wounded prey, he watched his former team struggle through a miserable 38.6 percent shooting performance before sinking his teeth in at every opportunity. Whenever the Celtics tried to put out the fire, Smart poured kerosene
on it, leading Houston to a 109-93 victory and bringing Boston’s Eastern Conference-best five-game winning streak to an end.
“He woke up everybody’s ass,” Rockets teammate Alperen Şengün told Ryan Hollins postgame.
It didn’t take long for Smart to make his presence felt.
After noticing Jayson Tatum expressing his frustration with referee Matt Kallio with 3:11 left until halftime, Smart immediately fled Houston’s bench and instigated, urging the official to issue Tatum a technical foul. He was all laughs, while Tatum — considerably less amused by the antics — remained visibly frustrated as he stared Smart down for a brief second and walked back to Boston’s bench.
Smart was still all smiles, as he put his arm around Mike Conley and began plotting his scheme.
In the third quarter, Smart got Tatum again. He drew a charge on Tatum, handing him his fourth personal foul. Seconds later, Tatum was whistled for a second straight offensive foul, bringing his total to five and forcing Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla to remove him with 1:39 remaining in the frame. Tatum, visibly frustrated once again, made another unhappy trip to Boston’s sideline.
Payton Pritchard also fell for Smart’s bait, earning a third-quarter offensive foul himself. Smart did his signature Shawn Michaels-inspired kip-up to get back on his feet.
By then, it was official. Smart’s plan was in full effect.
Much like the menace who wore No. 36 for nine seasons in Boston, Smart reminded the Celtics why it’s great to play alongside him and a pain in the ass to compete against him. He went scoreless in the first half and missed his first seven shots before finally making Boston pay.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka kept Smart on the floor to begin the fourth quarter, and the 13th-year veteran rewarded that decision with two timely shots.
Smart drained back-to-back 3-pointers, extending Houston’s lead to 90-79 with over eight minutes remaining. He raised both middle fingers in celebration, later claiming the gesture was directed at a select few seated on Boston’s bench.
“Just a lot of pent-up, I guess you can call it emotions,” Smart told reporters. “Plus, certain guys on the (Boston) bench was talking. Didn’t know who. I just heard them say something, so I let them hear it back.”
Smart finished with eight points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals in over 19 minutes.
“You always wanna do good against your former team,” Smart added, “and show them that you still can go out there and do what you do, right? So it definitely felt good. Energy was there. They know what I can do, and I reminded them again tonight.”
The energy Tatum once benefited from having alongside him had finally come back to haunt him. Smart’s swagger was contagious, and everyone in Houston fed off it.
The Rockets shot 40 percent from three and 54.4 percent overall, having their way with Boston.
Meanwhile, the Celtics couldn’t get anything to go.
Boston’s top outside-shooting threats — Pritchard, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, and Baylor Scheierman — combined to go 4-for-21 from beyond the arc. Luka Garza, coming off the bench to play over 17 minutes, was the Celtics’ leader in 3-point makes (four), although that contribution was largely overshadowed by the rest of the team’s shooting woes.
They were a hair better from three (29 percent) than they were 24 hours earlier (27 percent) against the Orlando Magic on Sunday night.
Tatum went 1-for-7 from distance and 5-for-16 overall, finishing the night with 19 points and a season-high five turnovers in Houston.
It’s difficult enough to play two games in two nights, especially on the road, but Tatum believes the Celtics didn’t do themselves many favors either throughout the game.
“Everybody plays back-to-backs,” Tatum told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “We’re not the only team that’s gotta travel and play a back-to-back. Are they tough? Yeah. But a lot of us been doing this for a long time. There were moments where we cut it to six or seven (points) and couldn’t get a rebound, and they hit a three. It’s moments like that where we gotta dig deeper a little bit.”
It’s been three years since the Celtics traded Smart, originally sending him to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the years since, the 32-year-old has struggled to make his former team pay, whether because of his on-court performance or availability. But Monday night in Houston, Smart finally got his get-back, and Boston felt it.
