Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart is averaging about 22 minutes per night, scoring 9.8 points and 4.5 assists per game in his second season in Memphis.
Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart is averaging about 22 minutes per night, scoring 9.8 points and 4.5 assists per game in his second season in Memphis.Brandon Dill/Associated Press
It was just like old times Saturday at TD Garden.
Marcus Smart donning headphones, worked up a lather as he took dozens of shots pregame as Celtics fans offered encouragement.
The only difference is Smart is a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, and he was prepared for his first game on the court against his former team.
Smart, who played nine years with the Celtics, returned to Boston [last February but was injured and watched the game from the bench](https://Marcus Smart is a Celtic at heart. Sunday’s return showed that. "https://Marcus Smart is a Celtic at heart. Sunday’s return showed that."). This time, he was healthy enough to face the Celtics.
And after his pregame workout, which included his ceremonial backwards 3-point shot that swished through the hoop, he greeted fans, kissed his son, and soaked in the adulation.
“It felt good,” he said of his regimen. “Obviously familiar territory for me. It felt good to be on the court, and it felt good to see some familiar faces.”
The Celtics traded Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2023 in a three-team deal that netted Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis along with Jrue Holiday would help win an elusive title for the franchise, while Smart spent most of his first season in Memphis injured.
This season, Smart has played in 13 of the Grizzlies' 23 games, averaging 9.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in an average of 21.5 minutes of action per night.
Smart said he has no hard feelings despite being traded after nine years. He played in 20 playoffs series, including four Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals.
“I think my legacy (in Boston) is going to speak for itself,” he said. “I don’t know what the end of my legacy will be here or what story will be told. I’ve done my part. I think I’ve made a great enough impact that (my legacy) should be a good one.
“I was very happy for those guys to win it. I went and said what’s up to everybody and told them congratulations. Obviously you want to be a part of it but (expletive) happens. You just gotta move on.
“I know what those guys have been through. I know what they sacrificed.”
Mind of Mazzulla
The Celtics were 1 for 2 Friday in challenges in their victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. In one sequence, center Al Horford was adamant that Giannis Antetokounmpo was the last to touch the ball after it was deflected on one of his drives to the basket.
Horford lobbied coach Joe Mazzulla to challenge and he obliged, winning his argument and giving the Celtics the ball.
In another play late in the fourth quarter with the Celtics leading 107-102, Jaylen Brown was called for a foul on Khris Middleton, making contact on a 3-point attempt. Brown urged Mazzulla to challenge, but officials ruled contact was made with Middleton’s midsection and he was awarded three free throws.
Mazzulla said he trusts his players in their arguments for a challenge, but it’s more whether the player may be correct. Mazzulla has to ponder whether he’s willing to sacrifice a sacred timeout if he loses, and whether officials would call a foul during their challenge review.
Derrick White said he knew the ball went off Damian Lillard on a drive, but he advised Mazzulla not to challenge because he also fouled Lillard and that may have been called after the review.
“You have to listen to the players and trust them a lot,” Mazzulla said. “But because of the rule changes of adding a foul, it’s easy to listen to a guy who says ‘Hey I didn’t touch it’ when it goes out of bounds.
“But now when they can add a foul, Derrick said, ‘Don’t do it, I fouled him.’ It was our ball but they would have added a foul. So you have to educate the guys, talk about it and really trust them.”
Mazzulla said it was no real decision to challenge the call on Brown because the Celtics were up two possessions with two timeouts, and the Bucks were out of timeouts with 23.7 seconds left.
“The Jaylen one to me is not about whether you win or lose,” the coach said. “It’s the value of it. You have two timeouts. You can save 3 points. There’s 24 seconds left in the game. The other team doesn’t have any timeouts.
“You take a chance on that because of the value of it. You win 3 points and you don’t necessarily need the timeout. There’s so much that goes into it.”
When asked how he manages to think so quickly when challenges on decisions have to be made in seconds, Mazzulla said preparation is his job.
“I don’t really do anything else during a game,” he said. “I feel like that’s the biggest pregame stuff, what we do as a staff to work on those contingency situations. Watching the late-game situations and being able to process information relatively quickly is something you have to do as a staff.
“(Brown’s challenge) was an easy one. If you have two timeouts left and the other team doesn’t have any and you accidently foul on a 3-pointer up two possessions, you have to challenge that.”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.