NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Marcus Smart

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. Marcus, the team has been amazingly resilient and yet also somewhat inconsistent through the playoff run. You guys haven't lost two in a row in more than two months. What is it about this group that allows you to get knocked down and then get right back up?

MARCUS SMART: Well, I've said it before, we've been knocked down a lot early on this season, so we know what it feels like to be knocked down and we know what we can withstand. It ain't nothing that we haven't seen or been in any situation before. For us, it's just to keep fighting because we know our potential when we do that.

Q. They won the physical battle the last game. Draymond, in particular, seemed to just set a certain tone with you guys. How do you respond to that without losing your composure?

MARCUS SMART: I mean, you respond to fire with fire, right? We've just got to turn around and do the same thing. If he's going to come in here and try to be physical, this is our house and we've got to protect it.

Q. You're obviously a player who likes to set the tone with your physicality, with your defense. Is that something you take personally when you see somebody else do that against you guys on a stage like this, and is it something that individually you say, hey, this is not going to happen here, that type of thing?

MARCUS SMART: Definitely. I mean, as any competitor would tell you, when you get hit in the mouth like that, there's only one way to respond, and if you're not really ready to do that, then you don't need to be on this stage. This is a stage where we've got to be willing to risk it all out there for your team and for the victory. By all means necessary. That's the mindset that they have. It's the mindset we have. But we've got to go out there and execute it.

Q. What growth have you seen from Jaylen throughout your entire time as his teammate? And how critical has he been to this entire era of Celtics basketball?

MARCUS SMART: Jaylen's evolution is remarkable. Here with the team, we've seen it. We knew it was coming. It was just a matter of time when, and the way that he allowed the game to slow down for him. Early on in his career, he was just getting out and he was just running like a chicken with his head cut off. We would make a joke with him about that. Now he's really thinking the game. He's playing the game. He's letting it come to him and it's slowing down for him. I think we all can see that.

That's what it's been for us since Jaylen has gotten here from day one, and that's what it's going to continue to be. He gets us going, especially when Jayson is not being Jayson sometimes. It happens; teams are keying in on him. JB knows and understands that it's his turn to take over when that happens. He's been great for us all year.

Q. Seems like when you guys are driving, you're seeing multiple bodies, multiple arms, closing those driving lanes. How can you create cleaner driving lanes to the basket?

MARCUS SMART: You've just got to continue -- when you drive, you can't take an extra dribble when you should be passing the ball, and you might have to take that extra dribble instead of passing the ball sometimes. You've just got to make that read and you've got to trust and understand and believe in your teammates and in the game plan.

It's not getting ourselves too far into traffic to where we only have one decision and it's not a very good one. I think that'll help us a lot, just making things very simple for us.

Q. You and Derrick, since you came together, you've gotten to play together quite a bit here. What's been that process of learning to play together out there, and you two as point guards, how do you kind of try to address some of the ball-handling issues this team has at times?

MARCUS SMART: We just do our best. Jaylen and Jayson have a lot of eyes on them, and nine times out of ten the two best defenders on the team are going to be guarding those two. Me and Derrick got to do a better job of getting our team together, helping those guys, relieving some of that pressure off them and just playing basketball. That's part of it. They trust us enough to do it. We trust our capability. We trust our capability in it, and we know who we are.

Q. We talk a lot about the physical fatigue, that Steph Curry takes a toll on your body whenever you're chasing him around screens and playing defense against him. Is there also a mental fatigue component to it because you know you can never let up and you have to make those second and third efforts on every possession?

MARCUS SMART: Definitely. He's a great player. I think we all can agree on that, right? The dude is phenomenal and outstanding at what he does. It doesn't take one guy. It takes a full team effort. But when you're on him and the main defender, you have to be mentally prepared as well as physically prepared for what's to come.

I think for me and this team, that's what we do -- first effort, second effort, third effort, fourth effort. Those multiple efforts is what we do, and we've just got to continue to do them.