BOSTON – The Boston Celtics (5-2) closed out the preseason with a pair of losses on the same night.
The first was an obvious 121-96 beatdown at the hands of the New York Knicks.
The other?
That would be the left ankle sprain injury suffered by Marcus Smart, an injury that CSNNE.com has learned will keep him out for at least a couple weeks which means the 6-foot-4 guard will not be on the floor for the team’s season opener next week against the Brooklyn Nets.
Smart suffered the injury in the second quarter and at the time, appeared to be in great pain.
Within seconds of landing on the ground, Smart smacked the parquet floor hard, almost immediately calling upon assistance to help him get to his feet and back to the locker room.
Considering how the Celtics were struggling on the floor at that point, getting an early exit wasn’t such a bad idea.
Boston Celtics
You knew going into the game that it was going to be challenging for the Celtics when head coach Brad Stevens decided to rest all of his starters except for Amir Johnson.
The new-look starters included Terry Rozier, Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jonas Jerebko and Amir Johnson.
Essentially, Stevens paired his bench rotation with Johnson who had not played a lot during the preseason.
The first quarter was a tight game which included five ties and 11 lead changes.
New York, was playing without Carmelo Anthony (rest) and Derrick Rose (away from the team dealing with court of law-related matter), began to pull away in the second quarter courtesy of good shooting (they shot 47.8 percent in the quarter) and dominating the glass (they held an 18-9 advantage in the quarter).
New York’s control of the game only grew over the course of the second half as the Celtics went deeper and deeper into their bench.