The Celtics will look to avoid a 2-2 best-of-7 series split when they take on the Atlanta Hawks Sunday in Game 4, but it may be without Marcus Smart.
Boston's starting point guard took a hard fall in the team's 130-122 loss in Game 3, landing on his back in the fourth quarter fighting for a rebound.
Smart spoke briefly about his injury and gave an update with reporters at the C's hotel Saturday following team shootaround.
"I'm a little sore, obviously. Re-watching the play, I took a hard fall. I didn't realize how high I was," Smart said. "But I'm OK, relatively speaking. A little sore today. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Not really sure where we're at with playing, but we'll see."
Smart finished with 24 points on 9-of-19 shooting, including 5-of-12 from deep to go along with eight assists and three steals Friday night. The veteran through the first three games in this first-round series is averaging 16.3 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 steals per contest, while having the task of guarding the backcourt duo of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.
With Young finally waking up to lead all scorers with 32 points in Game 3 and Murray chipping in 25 points to both combine for 23-of-43 from the field, the possibility of the former Defensive Player of the Year not being the lineup may be tough to overcome. However, Smart says his back isn't as bad despite having dealt with the injury before.
"Nothing crazy, but it's a recurring injury as well," Smart added. "So, little scar tissue built up, so you definitely feel it. But, for the most part, I'm OK. It's better than I expected it to be this morning. So, that's a good sign."
The Celtics allowed the Hawks in Game 3 to hit 56% from the field, while also losing the battle of the boards 48-29 and getting outscored in the paint 54-40.
Game 4 is scheduled to tip-off tonight at 7:00 ET on TNT from State Farm Arena.
Joel Pavón
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