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Andrew LopezESPN
BOSTON – Facts Celtics There will be no Defensive Player of the Year in the NBA 2021-22 on Tuesday night, as the team has ruled Smart Marcus out of Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series with Milwaukee Bucks because a quad interface on the right.
Smart initially hurt the quad during the first half of Game 1 on Sunday but bounced back. He then hit back-to-back headers to his right foot in the third round.
“It’s a bit of both, swelling and pain, limited movement,” Boston coach Ime Udoka said at her pregnancy press conference. “Some limited movement doesn’t improve in days like we thought.”
With three days off between Game 2 and Game 3 in Milwaukee on Saturday, Udoka expects Smart to be better by the time the Celtics are back on the floor from Tuesday’s game.
Udoka added that White Derrick will start in the place of Smart.
“I think he does a lot of things well. Obviously, it’s hard to compensate Marcus specifically for what he’s done for our team,” Udoka said.
“Derrick is another huge defender that you don’t lose much to in terms of size and versatility in defense. Then, offensively, he’s very capable of scoring, running shots and getting the ball. Beauty. His is that he checks a lot of those boxes.
“There’s not much falling for Derrick there other than the toughness that nobody really delivers like Marcus.”
When Smart left the game in the third quarter, he needed to ride the exercise bike before returning with 8 minutes, 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter. He played until Udoka had a starting point of 1:59 to lose 101-89.
In 33 minutes, Smart finished with 10 points and six assists.
