How Marcus Smart Shut Down Paul Millsap And Led The Celtics To A Victory In Crunch Time

Paul Millsap, Marcus Smart
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When Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko headed to the bench with just under nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s classic between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks, conventional wisdom said that Jae Crowder would earn the unenviable task of defending the red-hot Paul Millsap.

At 6’6 and a stout 235 pounds, the dreadlocked forward has the necessary combination of length, strength, and quickness to make life difficult for one of basketball’s most versatile scorers. It’s not like Jared Sullinger, Boston’s lone big man in the lineup, could keep up with Millsap, and every other player on the floor wearing green would theoretically be overmatched by the height and bulk of Atlanta’s star power forward.

One problem: Millsap had run roughshod over Crowder, Johnson, Jerebko, and any other warm body the Celtics threw at him in Game 4. He entered the fourth quarter with 36 points on 15-of-23 shooting, quickly adding six more with a driving and-1 and quick-release three-pointer before Brad Stevens went small and made the surprising adjustment that keyed Boston’s 104-95 overtime victory.

Marcus Smart guarded Millsap for the final 14 minutes of Sunday’s contest, a stretch in which the Celtics outscored the Hawks 30-15. His offensive contributions over that timeframe might be what Boston fans remember most about the sophomore guard’s breakout performance. No one expected a limited player like Smart to pour in 11 points – including a pair of three-pointers – and dish two assists in the clutch of a must-win playoff game. Certainly not at this stage of his career, at least.

But true to the real and ongoing nature of Smart’s basketball id, it was his relentlessly aggressive and competitive defense that loomed largest for the Celtics on Sunday despite his shocking offensive output.

A player best described as an undersized shooting guard should have no chance against Millsap. Smart surrenders at least four inches and 25 pounds in that matchup. But size doesn’t account for the defensive instincts and overall competitive spirit of Boston’s 22 year old, and those attributes are what Stevens counted on when he called Smart’s number to stop an All-Star in the midst of his best game ever.

The Hawks’ recognized this should-be mismatch immediately and went back to it repeatedly with the game on the line. Why not? Millsap was their only source of offense throughout Game 4, and he abused Smart the way his size advantage suggested would be easy the second time Atlanta called his number in the post.

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But that proved an aberration.

Millsap went just 1-of-5 from the field when Smart was his primary defender in the fourth quarter and overtime, routinely settling for seemingly easy jumpers over the top of a smaller player. It was a trap he was bated into over and over again, and one made especially intriguing by the dangerous proposition of putting the ball on the floor near the vice-grip, cat-quick hands of Smart.

It’s not like belligerent, handsy defense like this provided Millsap much opportunity to bump Smart off him and create space for a makable shot, either.

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A pivotal aspect of effective post defense is doing work early. Instead of letting offensive players establish deep position and catch with comfort, defenders need to push them off the block with pressure and physicality before the ball gets there. Smart’s effort in that regard against Millsap was superb, and accounted for his effectiveness as much as anything else.

Watch how a crouching Smart incessantly pesters Millsap further from the basket with forearms jabs and spinning fronts before Jeff Teague is finally able to get the ball where he wants.

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Millsap, by the way, didn’t exactly give Smart credit for limiting him in crunch time. More than anything else, he pointed to fatigue and an overall lack of aggression for his failure to keep the Hawks’ offense afloat down the stretch.

Stevens even said something similar. Scoring 42 points through the first 40 minutes of a maniacally intense road playoff game, after all, would take a physical toll on any player in basketball. Allowing for that negative and inevitable influence to partially explain Millsap’s struggles takes nothing away from Smart.

But it’s not like Johnson or any other player slowed Millsap down in the fourth quarter before Smart did, either.

Now let’s see if he can continue getting it done as the first round’s most dramatic series shifts to a best-of-three.

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