BOSTON - Marcus Smart's reputation suggests a player that's a defensive bulldog but an offensive liability. There are many that see only his woeful career shooting numbers and dismiss him as a player capable of impacting the game on only one end of the floor.
And while Smart's on/off splits revealed a negative differential in offensive rating the past two seasons, a new trend has emerged this season: The Boston Celtics are, maybe surprisingly, a better offensive team when Smart is on the floor.
Smart didn't just put up a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting on Friday night, he gave a lifeless Celtics team an unexpected offensive jolt when the team had previously been colder than the single-digit temperatures outside TD Garden.