Back in the glory years of the KG era, Celtics fans would mark the fourth quarter with a rousing Gino-led rendition of "You Should Be Dancing." That was during the halcyon days of the late-aughts, when we could gather in groups, and the Celtics were championship contenders.
Nowadays, we spend our fourth quarters squinting angrily into our smart phones, typing out missives about Marcus Smart missing yet another critical late-game shot. During these uncertain times, we're taking out our frustrations with the woefully underachieving Celtics on the heartbeat of the team.
Our anger is misguided.
With the NBA trade deadline looming Thursday, there are calls for Danny Ainge to ship Smart out of town. "So, With Tatum and Brown on the floor Marcus guns it to the hoop and gets his lunch handed to him," tweeted Gary Tanguay. "Trade him, now. He should not be taking that shot."
Indeed, it was enraging to watch Smart attempt more shots in the final 70 seconds of Boston's 121-119 loss to Milwaukee Wednesday than Jaylen Brown put up in the last five-and-a-half minutes. And yes, it was dejecting to watch Smart get smothered inside on an ill-fated drive to the hoop towards the end of regulation. The numbers don't lie: Smart is shooting 28.3 percent in fourth quarters this season.
But the Celtics didn't lose to the Bucks because Smart missed shots late in the final period. One of his attempts was a wide-open three-pointer. Any pro basketball player would take that look.
The Celtics fell to the Bucks — bringing their record to 1-9 against the top five teams in the league — due to a discombobulated effort that didn't even really begin until midway through the third quarter. Faced with an 11-point deficit at the start of the third quarter, the Celtics quickly found themselves in a 20-point hole. Jayson Tatum was ice cold; the defensive effort was stagnant. Once again, the Celtics failed to show up, until the bench sparked a run.
As Kendrick Perkins explained on NBC Sports Boston, games are decided well before the last 90 seconds. "Everyone looks at when the game is close, they look to point the figure at the person or something that happened during the last minute," he said. "But they forget what happened in the first quarter."
Smart is a flawed player, but he's been a fixture on every playoff team from this era, playing in three Eastern Conference Finals. He's the emotional leader of a club that's lacking veteran voices.
Also, it's not like Smart runs the offense autonomously. Tatum and Brown are responsible for their own shots. But their occasional late-game trepidation speaks to the overall questions about their leadership capabilities. Tatum has even acknowledged his understated demeanor. "I'm kind of a lead by example guy," he told reporters last December.
Recently, Brown admonished himself for his lack of leadership. "My job is to just come out and play basketball and inspire guys to play hard and compete to win. "I haven't done a good job with that," he said Friday. "That's something that has been a challenge. ... I lose sleep at night because of that."
Earlier this year, Brown said Smart is the team's "heart and soul."
The heart and soul is not worth Aaron Gordon, despite the latter's obvious talent. As of late Wednesday, discussions between Boston and Orlando were still alive, but didn't include Smart, according to Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
That's great news to hear. Smart possesses every trait we supposedly love about athletes: grit, desire, passion. Don't trade him, Danny.
