Celtics shooting guard Marcus Smart is making progress after suffering a partially torn oblique muscle, but his return to the court still seems a ways away.
“Today was my first day being able to walk without grimacing in pain,” Smart told reporters Tuesday afternoon after practice at the Auerbach Center. “It still hurts real bad for me to laugh, to cough, [and] to sneeze.”
Smart, who suffered the injury in the third quarter of the team’s penultimate regular-season game, likened the pain to getting stabbed with a knife. He said he required assistance for basic movements, like standing up, for four or five days immediately following the injury.