Marcus Smart has a bruised right quad — banged multiple times during Game 1 against the Bucks — that has affected his availability for Game 2 Tuesday night in the Garden.
Ime Udoka said the point guard is questionable because of the injury, which has been an issue for some time.
“He got a pretty bad quad contusion,” the Celtics coach said after Monday’s practice. “Got hit twice I think during the game and he’s a tough guy that’s gonna try to play through things and we’ll give them some treatment today and see how he feels tomorrow, but he’ll be listed as questionable.”
Smart, who has enjoyed the best season of his career now that Udoka has made him the starting point guard and full-time initiator of the offense, has generally played through the injury this season.
On Sunday, after running off the floor at one point in the first quarter to have the quad and a right shoulder “stinger” treated, Smart returned only to aggravate the injury again during a third quarter collision. He remained on the floor long after play had gone down the other end of the floor, before slowly walking back to mid-court.
His past record of playing through injuries considered, Smart’s status is concerning considering his downgrade to “questionable.”
“It’s bruised. I’d say more than just pain tolerance, though,” said Udoka. “Something that’s going to be stiff. He got hit twice there and has had this in the past where he had to miss some games obviously this year. And so it’s more so than just pain tolerance. There’s some tightness and some restriction with movement as well. And so that’s what we’ll spend today getting the treatment, see how he feels in the morning, get some more treatment and see how he feels game time.”
White looks to rebound
Derrick White spent extra time working on his floater Monday, after missing two open layups in a rough start to his Game 1 experience. Though he caught a late-game groove with two 3-pointers, White, like his teammates, has to find a better way of attacking Milwaukee’s paint-packing defense.
Milwaukee had great success contesting and picking up the Celtics guards at mid-court, rushing them into actions.
“We definitely missed some looks usually we make. But I mean, there were a lot of times we were rushed or could’ve got a better look,” he said. “That’s what they’re giving up defensively. So we’ll look for open shots that we can knock down and we’ll do a better job tomorrow.
“I mean, just, settling things down,” White said of what he can do. “Just getting us into something in the many sets we have. When they’re pressuring you, sometimes you have to go by them and make a play from there. Just a good balance for me to what they’re doing and try not to be sped up.”
As for his own scoring — those two 3-pointers were White’s first since Game 1 of the Brooklyn series — a couple of made threes should help confidence-wise.
“Yeah, it felt good. It’s something that I’ve been working with the coaching staff,” he said. “Just good to see the ball go in. I felt like I had a couple that go in and out, so just to good to see it go in and build off of that.”
“Just staying in it. A lot of times I fade back or start leaning back. Just staying in it each and every time and just getting a good shot off every time.”
A painful encounter
The crowd was momentarily shocked, not long after Smart’s run to the locker room, to see Rob Williams gingerly hurrying into the player tunnel. Let’s just say that after getting inadvertently kicked in the groin area by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Williams needed some place out of public view to work out his aches.
“Um, thankfully I made it out. The trainers said you have to go to the back and shake it off, have to check out wood,” he said. “So I checked out wood. It’s a stinger, man. A stinger for sure.
“It took a minute, I ain’t gonna lie to you, to deal with the pain.”
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