After dealing with what seemed like a rotating door of injuries this season, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a relatively clean slate of health as of late, with only Austin Reaves and rookie Adou Thiero currently sidelined. And in the case of Reaves, he is progressing towards a return soon. The Lakers could use a break from the myriad of injury issues they’ve dealt with, so maybe that’s why Marcus Smart felt compelled to simply keep playing despite a finger issue.
Following the Lakers’ win against the Mavericks, Marcus Smart revealed that he had suffered a finger injury in the fourth quarter, and he just snapped the finger back in place and kept playing, as per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“My finger popped out again, so I had to put it back in,’’ Smart exclaimed. “I just popped it right back in. . .it was the one I had surgically, so it was a little scary, but I’ll be alright.”
As he’s done all season, Smart was getting his hands in the passing lane and getting a deflection when his finger popped out of place. It was a play where he anticipated the pass from Mavericks rookie sensation Cooper Flagg in transition, and made one of the biggest plays of the game.
“I just trust my instincts. I trust my instincts, I trust my work and my athleticism as well,” Smart said. “Sometimes I think my athleticism gets underestimated because I don‘t use it as often in certain plays, but that works to my advantage.”
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In the win, Smart finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in a little over 32 minutes. He shot 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from the 3-point line. Since Reaves has been sidelined with the calf injury, Smart has been one of the starting guards for the Lakers.
Coming into Saturday’s game, he had appeared in 34 games, including 27 starts, at a little over 28 minutes per game. He was averaging 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 40.7 percent shooting from the field, 32.4 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 88.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The Lakers are the midst of an eight-game road trip, and they’re going to need everyone at their best to continue to build consistency. That means Smart playing through a dislocated finger to help close out the win.
“I dislocated the surgically finger, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to come out of the game,’” Smart laughed. “Try to pop it back in real quick, and if not, then I’ll come out, but I was able to go back in. . .It’s part of the game, it’s who I am. I’m a tough player, things happen and I want to be able to help my team in any way I can whether I got 10 fingers or nine.”