Celtics Pistons Basketball
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) shoots against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Auburn Hills, Mich., Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016. Boston won 94-92.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The quintessential Marcus Smart play arrived Saturday night when he flipped over an opponent, missed a putback game-winner and still, somehow, gifted the Boston Celtics a chance to seize a last-second victory. After Al Horford snuck in a go-ahead bucket with 1.3 seconds left, then blocked the Detroit Pistons' desperate attempt at the buzzer, he wanted to make it clear: "The credit is to Marcus."
"That's championship plays that he made, winning plays that he made right there," Horford told reporters in Detroit after Boston's 94-92 win. "So he just literally crashed the glass hard, and the ball just fell. I just put it back in and that was that."
After the Celtics and Pistons played a nutty tug-of-war game over the final minutes, Isaiah Thomas drove into the lane with a chance to give Boston a lead. With just a handful of seconds left, Thomas sprayed a pass to Jae Crowder in the right corner. Crowder missed the open look, but Smart bulled his way to the hoop to steal the rebound for his club.
Check out the hustle:
The most Marcus Smart moment of that clip might have come in the split-second when he believed he needed to run back on defense. He had just crashed onto his arm and ultimately limped off the court, but, before the Pistons called a timeout, Smart started to snap himself up just in case his team needed another winning play. You can actually see exactly when he realized Detroit stopped the play and he could relax, just for a bit.
Because his team required one more stop to save the win, Smart returned to the court for the final play. It's unclear how much the fall on the previous possession hurt, but it is clear he's a savage competitor. Sometimes he suffers from excessive ambition or an imperfect shot, but he would fight a forest full of bears by himself if it might somehow benefit the Celtics.