Celtics Green 10/31: Marcus Smart to Make Regular Season Debut
Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will make his regular season debut Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls.
The Celtics will have one of their best defensive players back just in time for the rematch against the Chicago Bulls. Guard Marcus Smart announced Monday that he expects to make his regular-season debut Wednesday at TD Garden.
"“I went through the full practice,” Smart said following practice Monday. “The ankle felt great. I will be playing Wednesday (against the Chicago Bulls).”"
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Smart sprained his left ankle in the final preseason game against the New York Knicks. Following initial concern, the sprain wasn’t as serious as his previous sprains and the time table for his return at the time was set for a couple weeks. After returning to practice Monday, Smart says it feels good and he is looking forward to returning to the court with his teammates.
"“It feels good to be back out here with those guys,” he said. “The ankle was great. I can say it now, unlike last year about this time when I was hurt and coming back.”"
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Smart’s return should help contributions the Celtics get from their bench. In his absence, the team has struggled a bit on the defensive side of the court.
Notes & quotes
Player options: There was more good news regarding Marcus Smart on Monday. The Celtics announced that they have picked up the option years on both Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier.
Both players are now under contract with the team through the 2017-2018 season. Rozier is due to make $1.988 million and Smart is due $4.538 million. The team is still deciding whether to pick up the fourth-year option on James Young.
If they don’t pick up the option on Young, he will become a restricted free agent this summer.
Terry Rozier on the return of Marcus Smart via Masslive.com:
"“He’ll be a huge help for us offensively and defensively. “You feel his presence. He’s always talking, he’s loud. He’s just somebody that anybody should want on their team because he’s a guy that everybody should want. So he’s going to help our second unit. We know that.”"
Brad Stevens on the rebounding ability of Al Horford via the Boston Herald:
"“At the end of the day, Al does a great job of being in perfect position and getting his body on people. You know, there are a lot of good rebounders in the league that just go pursue the ball and don’t block out, and they get numbers that way. Al does a great job of getting body, getting to the body, and then somebody else has got to go get the ball. So there’s an unselfishness to his rebounding that I appreciate.”"
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The Boston Celtics will next host the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden Wednesday night.