After overcoming his first slump of the season, Boston Celtics straightened the course and with them Very good 116-110 win against the Clippers this Thursdayregistered his fourth consecutive win, establishing himself as best league record: 26-10.
Of course, Boston not only has the best record in the NBA, but also leads the offensive line, scoring over 118 points per 100 possessions. And though the figures appear in the center of that domain jason tatum (29 and 11 rebounds against the Clippers) and jaylen brown (29 and 7), there is another name that should not and should not go unnoticed: marcus smart,
When talking about smart, the first thing that comes to mind is its influence as a best perimeter defenders in the league and a winning player, able to make dirty work To help the Celtics. However, there is one area in which the former Oklahoma State ex has appeared increasingly vocal and productive: His role as driver and assistant.
This three play sequence is beautiful. Smart Dropping of Dimes. pic.twitter.com/KJyE3zeNPK
— Pull Up Shoot (@NElGHT_) December 24, 2022
Smart showed that aspect by adding it against the Clippers 9 assists In addition to his 17 points. With that mark, he is now average 7.4 Season Touchdown Passesso far his career best numbers:5.9 was his top, achieved the previous season.
His 7.4 assists helped him 12th best passer in the leagueBut one big difference with the rest of the guys who dominate that list: Smart has very little of the ball in his hands compared to the more assisted point guards.Being downright opportunistic and accurate to take advantage of those moments in which he can generate a comfortable shot for a teammate.
As seen in the list of top 12 assistants, smart is the one who has the ball for the least amount of time, His thing isn’t to dribble, dribble and dribble to consume the clock, but fast passes are essential to maintaining the fluidity of Boston’s offense.
| player | equipment | Help | time with the ball |
|---|---|---|---|
| james harden | 76ers | 11,2 | 8.9 minutes |
| Tyrese Halliburton | fast bowlers | 10,2 | 7.5 minutes |
| trae young | hawks | 9,9 | 8.1 minutes |
| Nikola Jokic | nuggets | 9,4 | 4.5 minutes |
| chris paul | sons | 8,8 | 7.1 minutes |
| luka doncic | Mavericks | 8,8 | 9.9 minutes |
| darius garland | Cavaliers | 7,8 | 7.9 minutes |
| i morant | grizzlies | 7,8 | 8 minutes |
| Russell Westbrook | lakers | 7,7 | 5.5 minutes |
| junior holiday | box | 7,5 | 6.4 minutes |
| mike connelly | jazz | 7,5 | 6 minutes |
| marcus smart | Celtics | 7,4 | 4.2 minutes |
Smart’s accuracy in taking advantage of each pass is remarkable. 15.1% of his passes end in assists, a mark that ranks as the sixth highest in the entire NBA. (min. 20 games), right behind the caliber of Trae Young, Russell Westbrook, Devin Booker, Ja Morant and Luka Doncic.
is the company that Smart carries as a passer, in one aspect Until a few seasons ago it seemed far out of reach,
The Marcus-JB connection is on point tonight pic.twitter.com/YcvK4DwoEK
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) December 30, 2022
In 2018-2019, the 19% of Boston’s assists came from his hands when he was in the field. In 2019-2020, he went up 21%, a year later 24%, in 2021-2022 26%, and in the current campaign is at 30%, At 28, who knows where Smart’s ceiling could be, no longer as a defensive specialist, but as a One of the best pure point guards in the league,
The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.
