Celtics’ Marcus Smart returns after missing one month with leg injury
Celtics point guard Marcus Smart returned to the court in Sunday’s game against the Knicks after missing more than a month with a leg injury. Head coach Brad Stevens announced his return to the rotation before the game.
Stevens said he would ease Smart back with a minutes limit. The guard scored six points and grabbed three rebounds in a 100–91 home victory over New York.
Smart suffered a partial dislocation of his left knee on Nov. 20 and had not played since. When he was first injured, the team said he would miss at least two weeks.
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Before Sunday, Smart played in nine of Boston’s 13 games and made eight starts. He was averaging 9.8 points and 3.2 assists per game.
Stevens said he was impressed with how the rest of his players performed defensively in Smart’s absence, given that Smart is “clearly one of our better defenders.”
- Dan Gartland