BOSTON – The left ankle sprain injury Marcus Smart suffered in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s game against New York is expected to keep him sidelined for a couple weeks which means he will not play in the season opener against Brooklyn next week, according to league source.
It is the same ankle that Smart has sprained before, but it doesn’t appear to be as bad an ankle sprain as the ones he has had previously.
One of the reasons for it not being as serious is the fact that Smart had the ankle taped up, something he has done for all games since suffering ankle sprains during his rookie season which sidelined him for several weeks.
Smart is certainly frustrated and disappointed that he has suffered yet another ankle-related injury, evident by him smacking the parquet floor moments after he went down.
Within seconds of him being on the floor, he didn’t try to put any weight on it. Instead, he called for help from his teammates and the medical staff who helped him to his feet and from there, back to the locker room.
Although Smart has not shot the ball as well as he would have liked in the preseason, he remains a player head coach Brad Stevens has a tremendous amount of confidence and faith in which is why he has referred to Smart as the team’s Sixth starter.
With Smart being out for a couple weeks, it’s unclear what impact if any this will have on the Celtics trimming their roster down to 15 players by the league deadline which is Monday at 5 p.m.
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The players that have been most linked with the 15th roster spot are R.J. Hunter and James Young, with Young being the more versatile player of the two.
However, with the injury being a relatively short-term one, Smart’s injury may not be a factor in their decision.