Arguably one of the most impactful moves in the entire NBA last summer was Marcus Smart signing with the Los Angeles Lakers. What he has given them so far in the playoffs is exactly what L.A. envisioned when bringing in a former Defensive Player of the Year as he has continuously made winning plays in high-stakes situations.
In a close Game 3 against the Houston Rockets with a potential 3-0 series lead on the line, Smart came up with a steal and three free throws when the Lakers were trailing by six with around 30 seconds remaining. It ultimately resulted in Los Angeles pulling off an improbable win to take a commanding series lead, but Smart knows the series isn’t over yet.
“We’ve got one more,” the veteran guard said when he was asked about the message in the Lakers locker room after going up 3-0. “It’s not over. We’ve got one more. We’re in their home and nobody wants to get embarrassed in their home. We got them in a nail-biter tonight, so it’s one more.
“We can’t worry about what happens after that because we gotta take care of that. We’ll worry about that after the game. Right now, Sunday is the only thing on our mind.”
The closeout game is the hardest because opposing teams are fighting for their lives. Especially in a hostile road environment, Smart knows the Lakers need a strong mentality in Game 4 on Sunday.
“For us, we’re just trying to have that killer mentality right now,” he continued. “We got them on the ropes and it’s our job to try to finish and their job to fight back. That’s been JJ’s motto all year, bend don’t break. I think we really took that to head for us, we lived it, instilled it in us, and you see that the way we played these three games.
“But we gotta be like a lion. We gotta have that killer instinct. We got them on the ground, we just gotta finish them off and keep our foot on their neck.”
Role players have needed to step up to accompany LeBron James and they have done exactly that so far. No one can replace Smart’s two-way impact, and he knows what it takes to be successful in the postseason given all of his experience.
JJ Redick had key conversation Marcus Smart
A lot of people counted the Lakers out after Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves got hurt at the end of the regular season. But JJ Redick revealed a crucial conversation with Smart helped turn things around and get them back on track before the playoffs.
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