The Boston Celtics and their fans received some relatively good news on Tuesday when they found out that point guard Marcus Smart travelled with the team for their game against the Charlotte Hornets. Smart won't play in the game, but it is a positive sign as it likely means a return is on the horizon. The question is what will Smart's role be when he returns, and it seems like he might come off the bench, at least initially, according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston.
Smart banged knees with Thomas Robinson of the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 20 and suffered a subluxation of the proxmial tibiofibular joint which has kept him out of the Celtics' last 16 games. Smart is likely to miss a few more games, but he is at least moving in the right direction, and a return seems somewhat imminent.
Smart will undoubtedly have a role when he is healthy enough to play, as he is a beast on defense, but he will likely come off the bench at least to start. Head coach Brad Stevens has a couple of reasons to bring Smart off the bench upon his return, not the least of which is limiting his minutes. Before the injury, Smart started eight out of nine games and averaged almost 30 minutes in those games. When he gets back, Smart will likely be eased back in and his minutes will likely be close to 20 per game, so bringing him off the bench will make it easier to do that.
Another reason to bring him off the bench is because Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas have played well as a starting backcourt tandem. Thomas is the team's best player and clearly needs to keep starting, while Bradley is second on the team in scoring. Right before Smart got hurt, he and Thomas were sharing the starting backcourt with Bradley coming off the bench, but his injury pushed Bradley right back to the starting lineup.
In nine games before the injury Smart was averaging 9.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game. As Smart gets healthier and back into the swing of things he can and likely will earn his way back into the starting lineup, as Stevens loves his defensive intensity, but for now it is likely a wise decision to bring him off the bench to start and let him work his way back into bigger minutes.
