After missing 18 games with a knee injury, most of us are just happy to see Marcus Smart back on the court. But his shooting has been awful:
So, when do we start talking about how Smart is shooting 34 percent overall and a disastrous 21 percent from deep? Smart is a multi-positional terror on defense, and he has mastered some new tricks running the pick-and-roll. But it’s hard to stay on the floor in the postseason when you’re in sub-Tony Allen territory from the field.
Smart will can more jumpers at some point — the revival may have kicked off in Dallas last night. He hit 33 percent from deep as a rookie, a mild surprise, and a knee injury derailed him this season. Dialing back his shot selection might help. For a bad shooter, Smart launches a surprising number of contested 3s early in the shot clock — including some off-the-bounce jobs that have little chance.
That may be partly a function of how tough it is for Boston to create separation when Thomas is on the bench, but Smart has been brick-y even alongside Thomas.
Yikes, those numbers are worse than I ever imagined. The FG% is down 3% and the 3FG% is down 12% from last season.
We all know Smart’s bread-and-butter is defense. His defensive rating (96.7) and steals (1.6) are good enough for top 20, and rebounding (4.5) is good enough for top 10 among point guards.
I’m willing to give him the remainder of the season before getting concerned. Are you?
