The Boston Celtics seemed to have hit their stride as they had won four of five games and gotten their record to 7-5. Then came a loss to the Brooklyn Nets and maybe even more importantly the news that Marcus Smart would have to miss some time with a leg injury. The timetable given to Smart right now is two weeks but it seems like there is a real chance that he can miss more than just the two weeks, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.
The official injury Smart is dealing with is a subluxation of the proximal tib-fib joint in his lower left leg. The injury occurred in Friday night's game against the Nets when he banged knees with Thomas Robinson. Initially the Celtics called it a knee bruise but further testing revealed that it was a little bit more serious than that. The good news here is that Smart will not need surgery as nothing is structurally wrong with the leg but the two week timetable might be generous.
"They say a couple weeks-plus and there's no real end beyond a couple of weeks. It could be a couple weeks, it could be longer than that. Hopefully it gets a lot better sooner because obviously he's a big loss for us," said head coach Brad Stevens.
This is unfortunate timing for Smart because he had just started to come into his own as the Celtics starting point guard and was becoming a big part of their defense. In nine games (eight starts) Smart is averaging 9.8 points and 1.78 steals per game and although he hasn't shot the ball well yet this season he's been essential to their success on the defensive end.
With Smart out Avery Bradley stepped back into the starting lineup on Sunday and filled it up but this will make the Celtics have to go a little bit deeper into their bench. Fortunately for Stevens the Celtics are an extremely deep team so they should be able to withstand this injury as they still have Evan Turner off the bench and R.J. Hunter who they really like. Despite their ability to withstand Smart's absence they would still like him back as soon as possible because he is great on the defensive end and a big reason why the Celtics are a top ten team on that side of the ball.
