The last time Marcus Smart saw Trae Young, tempers flared.
Late in the Celtics’ victory over the Hawks on March 11 in Atlanta, Smart got angry at Young. The Hawks guard was making a drive past Smart and put up a shot when he inadvertently kicked the Celtics guard in the groin. Smart confronted Young and a skirmish ensued that resulted in the two falling to the ground.
Smart was ejected, ruled that he grabbed Young and slammed him to the ground. The Hawks guard wasn’t disciplined.
Fast forward one month, and the two will face off in a playoff series as the Celtics meet the Hawks in the first round. There doesn’t seem to be any animosity between the two guards, but they represent the most intriguing matchup of the series as Smart, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, battles one of the most offensive gifted players in the league in Young.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Smart said after Thursday’s practice. “Any player that I go up against, especially one of the greatest players in this league, I’m definitely looking forward to it. It’s a matchup as a defensive guy, going up against the best offensive players, it’s only going to make me better.”
Smart was watching Tuesday when the Hawks upset the Heat in the play-in game to take the No. 7 seed. But he wasn’t surprised to see them go into Miami and win despite the Heat winning three out of four regular-season meetings and beating the Hawks in five games in last season’s first round.
Smart senses a hungry squad in Atlanta that has gained steam since going through a midseason coaching change after Quin Snyder replaced Nate McMilan in late February. The group is led by Young, who was not named an All-Star this season. His scoring dipped to 26.2 points per game alongside co-star Dejounte Murray and his 3-point shooting declined to 33.5 percent, his lowest since his rookie season. But he’ll have the Celtics’ full attention.
“You just make it tough on him,” Smart said. “He can score in every aspect of the game, so you’re not gonna be able to take away everything but you try to take away the easy ones and you make everything he takes, he gets, as hard as possible.”
While Young will pose a significant challenge for the Celtics’ defense, the Hawks guard is a complete liability on defense. Expect the C’s to hunt him throughout the series.
Jayson Tatum played a career-high 2,732 minutes this season – one more minute than last season – and his playing time was a topic all year after he suffered from fatigue late in the postseason last season. Brad Stevens said that he wanted Tatum to sit games down the stretch and he ultimately sat four games after the All-Star break, including the final two games of the regular season. Tatum fought through lingering injuries this season. But the Celtics star feels fresh as the playoffs begin.
“Well, this is the least amount of games I’ve played in six years,” said Tatum, who played 74 games. “It feels good to be out there. It’ll be good. Body feels great. Energy level. Overall, feel pretty good.”
The Celtics appear pretty healthy as the postseason starts. Smart has suffered a myriad of injuries this season, and missed the final three games with a neck injury. But all things considered, he said he’s feeling as good as he’s felt at this stage of the season in a long time.
“My neck’s feeling fine,” Smart said. “Still a little sore, but keeping up with my treatments and rehab and just trying to strengthen my neck muscles and make sure I don’t have a recurring situation with it. But as of right now, it’s good and it looks to stay that way. …
“Physically, I’d probably say … I wouldn’t say 100, but I’m pretty close. I haven’t been able to say that in a few years, so it feels good to say that this year.”
Jaylen Brown, who suffered a right finger injury last week, went through practice on Thursday and didn’t have his hand wrapped when practice was opened to the media. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said he had it taped but didn’t have any limitations as he prepares to return for Saturday’s Game 1. …
The Celtics’ vibes have been high this week and they seem ready for the playoffs to finally begin. They have one more practice on Friday before Saturday’s Game 1. Tatum admitted they had to fight off some boredom toward the end of the season as the playoffs started coming into focus.
“Maybe like the last week or two of the season, just knowing that we’re so close,” Tatum said. “Because obviously everybody is just super eager to play in the playoffs and get it started. But now it’s here, so we’re all excited and ready for the moment.”