JJ Redick, Austin Reaves on Lakers not having Marcus Smart vs Pistons
· Yahoo Sports
If an uninformed fan were to judge Marcus Smart merely based on his stats, that fan might conclude that Smart is merely another role player for the Los Angeles Lakers. But he has played a pivotal role in their recent nine-game winning streak, and when he was ruled out of Monday's game against the Detroit Pistons due to right ankle soreness, they missed him.
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Smart is an excellent defender, even if he doesn't come up with a ton of steals or blocks, and while he's a low-percentage shooter on offense, he has made some clutch baskets for the Lakers. They could've used his defense on Monday when Daniss Jenkins, a second-year guard who, until recently, was on a two-way contract and was averaging eight points a game coming into Monday, scored 30 points and had eight assists.
Coach JJ Redick made it clear that Smart's absence was costly during Monday's contest, which the Lakers lost by three points, ending their winning streak.
"Not having Smart tonight killed us," Redick said. "... The way our team works, you need Smart for his ball-handling. You need Smart for his defense."
Guard Austin Reaves was in agreement.
"Marcus is a huge glue guy for us, as everybody knows," Reaves said. "The way he plays, unselfish, guards every team's best player, that's what he does. When you don't have that, it sucks."
On the season, Smart is averaging 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals a game, and he's been hitting a decent 36.3% of his 3-point attempts since the start of January. He leads the team in total plus-minus at plus-238, and it has a net rating of 6.4 when he's on the court. With Smart, the Lakers have a 110.9 defensive rating, but when he hasn't been on the court this season, their defensive rating has fallen to 117.7.
Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Smart is day-to-day with his ankle ailment, as well as a hip issue. The Lakers will conclude their six-game road trip on Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick, Austin Reaves on Lakers not having Marcus Smart vs Pistons