It's one thing for Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown to beat you in a playoff game.
But when Marcus Smart delivers the dagger, it hurts a little more.
Just ask Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, who watched Smart hit five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter Tuesday to lift the Boston Celtics to a 102-99 win over Toronto in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.
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SIGN UP HERE Here's Lowry's reaction when asked if Game 2 was one that got away from the Raptors:
"I mean, Marcus Smart made five straight threes," Lowry responded with a laugh. "That was one that was just — it’s tough, it’s tough to give up five threes."
Implied in Lowry's chuckle is that Smart's 3-point barrage was a bit of a fluke.
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In one sense, Lowry isn't wrong: Smart, a career 31.8 percent 3-point shooter, became just the fifth player since 1997 to hit five or more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of the a playoff game.
The other four? Jamal Murray (twice), Stephen Curry (twice), Klay Thompson and Tim Thomas.
You wouldn't expect to see Smart on that list. But the 26-year-old has transformed himself into a legitimate 3-point threat over the last two seasons -- more so, in fact than Lowry.
Lowry might want to take those numbers to heart entering Game 3 on Thursday, when the Raptors will look to avoid going down 3-0 in the series.
