Boston Celtics fans love Marcus Smart. Smart isn’t a flashy scorer or a knockdown shooter, but he’s resonated with the fanbase as a player who will do whatever it takes to win. Occasionally, that pathos will get the better of him. That’s exactly what happened in the third quarter of Game 2 in Boston’s second round series against the Toronto Raptors in the NBA playoffs.
Marcus Smart had the most shameless flop of the NBA playoffs
Smart’s obvious flop actually fooled the refs at first until they overturned the call on a challenge.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
As Raptors guard Fred VanVleet pushed the ball on a fastbreak for a layup, Smart intentionally ran into Toronto’s Pascal Siakam to try to draw a foul. It was a blatant flop attempt by Smart.
For as shameless as this was, it actually worked, at least at first. The initial ruling on the court was a foul on Siakam before the basket counted. After Raptors coach Nick Nurse challenged the play, officials reversed the call, giving the bucket to VanVleet, and awarding a free throw to Siakam.
Here’s another angle:
Smart responded by catching fire in the fourth quarter, hitting five three-pointers in the period to help the Celtics to a 102-99 win.
The Celtics are now up 2-0 on Toronto in the second round series. Smart may have tried to grift his way into a ridiculous foul, but Boston doesn’t win Game 2 without him.
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