Today Was A Good News/Bad News Day For The Celtics

Let’s start with the bad news because we all knew it was coming. Everyone was waiting for the L2M report to see how they would rule the end of yesterday’s game, and well, can’t say I’m shocked

Listen this shit happens. The last 40 seconds wasn’t why they lost and blah blah blah. No point in crying over spilled milk. Instead, let’s focus on the good news portion of today shall we?

Is that….could it be….I think it might be….Marcus Smart music?

It is quite the news to think that Marcus at first Smart may not be back until around April 27th and a potential Game 7 to then realize he is looking like he’ll be available for the ever pivotal Game 5. I cannot stress how much this addition would mean to this team. Everything from the rotations getting a little more back to normal, to the versatility he now would bring, to the energy and the defense that has been sorely missing at times this series, this is just the type of shot in the arm this team needs.

The good news is I don’t even care how he shoots! Have you seen this team recently? They can’t even score 40 points in a goddamn first half. Whatever Smart gives you in the shooting department will help. But I also am excited for this team to get back to running some goddamn plays. Give me some P&Rs and P&Pops with Smart/Horford all day. No longer will we have to sweat through Rozier throwing lobs, get him back off the ball and into more of a scoring role.

As a reminder, here’s how important Smart has been this year

Now I know what you’re saying. These numbers include players that are no longer available. And that’s true. Which is why I came prepared. A Smart/Jaylen/Tatum/Horford/Baynes lineup had a +19.7 point differential per 100 possessions in 43 minutes together this season, and a Smart/Jaylen/Rozier/Morris/Horford lineup was a +18.6. Any way you want to look at the potential combinations this team has with Smart now available, it tells a good story.

I guess it should be stated that “questionable” does not mean he’s for sure playing, but it’s close enough for me where I can spend the time off between now and tipoff dreaming of Smart finally stopping a Bucks player from making every shot he takes.

Game 5, hurry the hell up would ya.