Celtics Officially Announce Marcus Smart’s Status for Game 3

Boston will have the Defensive Player of the Year on the court against Milwaukee Saturday.
Celtics Officially Announce Marcus Smart’s Status for Game 3
Celtics Officially Announce Marcus Smart’s Status for Game 3 /
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After missing Game 2 earlier this week, Celtics guard Marcus Smart will be available when Boston takes the floor in Milwaukee for Game 3 against the Bucks on Saturday, the team announced.

According to Celtics coach Ime Udoka, Smart will start this afternoon’s game and will not have any limitations.

The update to Smart’s status came after he was upgraded to probable on Friday morning. The Defensive Player of the Year has been nursing a right thigh contusion that he sustained during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoff series last Sunday after he took hits to his right thigh on back-to-back plays during the game.

Smart missed Game 2 of the series on Tuesday, but the Celtics managed to rout the Bucks 109–86 after losing Game 1 at home. The victory knotted the series 1–1 headed into Saturday’s Game 3. 

Despite struggling in the series opener and missing the team’s win, Smart has been a spark plug for Boston throughout the playoffs. He’s averaged 15.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.4 steals in five games played so far this postseason. 

Tip-off for Saturday’s Game 3 is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on ABC. 

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For more Boston Celtics coverage, go to Inside The Celtics. 


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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.