Marcus Smart has started eight games this season for the Celtics, and while you wouldn’t call the second-year guard’s play brilliant he’s been solid. Most of the time. He’s averaged 9.8 points a game and worked hard on defense.
The Celtics will be without him for a couple of weeks due to a lower left leg injury, reports A. Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE.com (and confirmed by the team).
But the injury was feared to be a lot worse, according to a league source.
“Luckily it’s a few weeks versus a few months,” the source told CSNNE.com.
Officially, the injury was a subluxation of the proximal tib-fib joint. That is the area basically behind the knee where the tibia and fibula connect. A subluxation is a partial dislocation (or a misalignment, if you ask a chiropractor about your back).
So, ouch. And that could have been a lot worse.
Avery Bradley will get the start for the Celtics, and that is good — he has been a defensive beast this season off the bench. He has a personal defensive rating of 85.7 (points allowed per 100 possessions).