|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CELTICS VS CAVALIERSMay 22, 2017Marcus SmartBoston, Massachusetts: Practice Day MARCUS SMART: I wasn't the only one, though. Jonas Jerebko came in and gave us some tremendous minutes. Everybody did. Avery Bradley did what Avery Bradley does, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, those guys. It wasn't just me, everybody stepped up. Q. You're a young guy thrust into a big moment. What does it do for your confidence to be able to come through? MARCUS SMART: It boosts it through the roof, and not only for me, but for this team. Everybody is confident. Everybody has been counting us out, and we get blown out at home both games, and to come into hostile territory and come out with a victory, it was an amazing feeling for us, and it definitely helped our confidence. Q. What's been the key to you bracing yourselves as a team for what you anticipate will be a more aggressive LeBron James in Game 4? MARCUS SMART: Just being more poised. We know LeBron is going to come out even stronger than he has in games 1 and 2, but we've got to be willing to take that punch and keep fighting. He's going to hit some tough shots. Their whole team is going to make some tough shots. We can't let that get to us, and we've just got to keep playing and execute what Brad [Stevens] draws up. Q. How much did the doubters, if at all, fuel you coming into last night, considering nobody picked you guys to win? MARCUS SMART: I don't know, they're still picking us not to win, so it's going to be another test for us. Our whole philosophy throughout this Playoffs is this is us versus everybody else, and that's just how we've been throughout the Playoffs, and that's the team we are and that's how we play, especially with one of our better players down in IT [Isaiah Thomas]. Everybody really got us down, so we've really got that mentality of we've just got to keep rolling. Q. You guys were confident when you were getting blown out. Are you overconfident now? MARCUS SMART: No, just the same amount of confidence as we had getting blown out. The thing about this is we try to focus on not getting too high, not getting too low, so when we were getting blown out, we tried to focus on not letting it get to us and just come out and play the next game, and we've got to do the same thing. We shot the ball well, we did a good job of going, we just can't let it get too high for us, and we've just got to come out and play our game. Q. What are you most proud of that you were able to accomplish last night considering that you replaced Isaiah in the starting lineup and played so well? MARCUS SMART: I was able to handle the team, shout at Amir Johnson. But just really to get in and do everything that Brad Stevens and this coaching staff has asked me to do. You know, especially with IT out. A lot of guys, including myself especially, had a lot of lows, so just being able to come in and accomplish those things, and to come out with a victory, it was big. Q. Can it carry over? MARCUS SMART: It can. It can. That's one thing about the Playoffs. The better team that night wins. It just takes one game and you never know what's going to happen. Q. You guys made the most threes of any team in the Playoffs. How big a weapon is that for you guys, and what is it about your offense that creates all these looks? MARCUS SMART: It's huge. It's huge for us, but we've got guys that can penetrate the lane and draw multiple defenders, and you just really can't leave us open in the lane because we finish. Once you start doing that, we've got enough good shooters on the outside that can knock down shots, and it's just going to start opening up the lane for us even more, and just got to be ready to knock it down. Q. How happy was Isaiah last night when you were FaceTiming with him? MARCUS SMART: He's ecstatic. I told him I channeled my inner IT, and he kind of laughed a little bit. It felt good. It felt good to see him smile. He's been down with everything he's been going through, and then for him not to be here, I know that hurts him even more. So to see him happy and smiling, it was a good feeling for us. Q. With the way they came out with the 14 threes in the first half, that could have easily turned into Game 2, but you guys kind of kept it within shouting distance. What's the key to absorbing a blow like that at the start of a game? MARCUS SMART: Exactly what we did. They hit some tough shots. I mean, granted, those guys can shoot, but we made it tough on them all night, and they hit some tough ones, and we can live with that. The ones we can't live with are the ones that are wide open where we don't contest and they feel comfortable. We have to make them feel uncomfortable. Even if they're hitting them, we have to make them feel uncomfortable all night. Q. How do you guys keep yourselves in the game at that point when they're still hitting those? MARCUS SMART: We come right back at them, attack them right back, put them back on their heels, make them guard us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|