Since he returned to the lineup the day after Christmas, the ex-Celtics’ heart and soul has competed in two games, one with Ja Morant, and one without. You can probably guess which one Memphis won. In Smart’s 52-plus minutes since coming back into the Grizzlies’ lineup, he has given C’s fans flashbacks. Particularly, in the fourth quarter and overtime against the Pelicans a few days ago.

He didn’t make a single shot in the first three quarters of that contest. That didn’t stop him from hoisting threes without any thought behind it. Classic No. 36. Not only did he catch fire in the final 12-plus minutes in the Big Easy, his intelligence defensively saved Taylor Jenkins’ team from ending a three-game winning streak.

The 29-year-old amassed six stocks, five of which were steals. Two of them came in winning time. Altering games defensively. That is what Smart does. Boston fans know all too well what that looks like. The only man insane enough to take a charge on a 280 pound man is Smart. It was like the good ole days when he was absorbing the contact from another star in crunch time, James Harden.

Last night on the road against the defending champions, the Texas native was still productive despite a blowout defeat. He finished with the team-high in plus/minus and assists with five. The only starter that shot more efficiently from the field than Smart was the man that is slated to make over $34 million next season, Desmond Bane.

Marcus Smart has been quite the difference-maker right out of the gate after an injury that kept him out for more than a month

Jenkins is still finding out the rotation given how deep the Grizzlies are at the guard position. No matter how many minutes he does get, you can almost guarantee Smart is going to make them quality ones. The former Celtic also knows what it is like to begin a campaign struggling. Remember the 2021/22 season? No. 36 has that knowledge, potentially using it to assist in bringing a talented ball club out from under the .500 mark.

ClutchPoints’ Christopher Smith believes it’d make sense for Derrick White to get more playing time for the Boston Celtics amidst a potentially All-Star-caliber hot streak at the expense of Payton Pritchard.

“Derrick White continues to prove why he is arguably the best role player in the NBA,” Smith prefaced before saying, “His performance on both ends of the floor speaks for itself. As a result, it makes sense to decrease Payton Pritchard’s minutes in favor of White. Nevertheless, there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed.”

Smith doesn’t believe that all Celtics point guards should have their playing time slashed by head coach Joe Mazzulla, though. The ClutchPoints writer fees that Jrue Holiday needs to continue seeing big minutes alongside White in what has been a one-two punch of knockout power in the backcourt.

“Having two guards who are elite on defense is a great problem to have,” Smith prefaced before saying, “It should only increase the Celtics’ resistance to opposing offenses. As a result, Holiday needs to continue to get plenty of minutes alongside White to keep Boston at the top of the league in defensive rating.”

Payton Pritchard could be playing his way off the Boston Celtics

Brad Stevens has been given the green-light from Cs owner Wyc Grousbeck to spend whatever it takes to produce a championship team in Boston. Ipso facto, if there’s a player who isn’t contributing to winning a championship, that player could be coupled with picks to bring in someone who will.

He’s overcome a gruesome 3/20 start to the 2023-24 season from beyond the arc to shoot at typical career conversion rates, but Pritchard represents one of the only tradeable pieces outside of the team’s top six players due to his $8 million salary — and for the record, that top six should all be considered untouchable at this point considering the team’s league-best record at the New Year’s benchmark.

Unfortunately, because he hasn’t been perfect, Pritchard may have played his way off the team if Stevens sees one big move left to be made to raise Banner 18.