The Boston Celtics will be missing Kyrie Irving for the entirety of their playoff run, but it appears they will be getting another key player back for the second round if they are able to advance that far.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports that point guard Marcus Smart had his injured thumb reevaluated on Monday, and doctors believe he will be able to return to game action later this month.
Sources: Celtics guard Marcus Smart had reevaluation on torn right UCL Monday in New York and is expected to receive clearance to return to game action at six-week mark of surgery (April 27). Smart has been cleared to start light non-contact shooting.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 9, 2018
That would be right around the time the conference semifinals begin, so that is obviously good news for the Celtics. Smart is an incredibly valuable role player for Boston, and not having him for the entire postseason would be another major blow in addition to losing Irving. While Smart is shooting just 36.7 percent from the field and has been known to force ill-advised 3-pointers, he is extremely valuable on defense and always gives max effort. Those types of players make a big difference in the postseason.
Smart’s thumb injury is actually his second hand injury of the season, though the first was much more embarrassing. While the odds are stacked against Boston without Irving, Smart would certainly help later in the playoffs.
