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Marcus Smart gets encouraging update amid back injury
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- Marcus Smart gets encouraging update amid back injury
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The post Marcus Smart gets encouraging update amid back injury appeared first on ClutchPoints .
LOS ANGELES – Just as the Los Angeles Lakers got LeBron James back in the lineup, they lost Marcus Smart who has been dealing with a back injury. Smart was set to miss his third straight game as the Lakers hosted the Phoenix Suns on Monday, but Lakers head coach JJ Redick was optimistic that the veteran guard would not be out for too long.
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Prior to the Lakers' game against the Suns, JJ Redick gave an update on Marcus Smart 's injury, including a potential timeline for his return to the lineup.
"He was feeling a little tightness, I guess it was three games ago. . .it tightened up after, was really tight the next day, the day before Thanksgiving, so we got imaging. Imaging was unremarkable, looked like a normal 11-year veteran. We've all gotten that MRI, so he's there," Redick said. "We're not concerned long-term. It's a day to day thing. I had a number of those week to week episodes during a stretch of my career when I played for the Clippers, and it would just pop up."
"You would feel like you're progressing, and then it would kind of plateau," Redick continued. "So we expect him to be back soon. It's not a long-term thing."
Smart last played during the Lakers' win against the LA Clippers last week, finishing with seven points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 20 minutes of play. He is in first season with the Lakers after signing with the team in the offseason upon reaching a contract buyout with the Washington Wizards .
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Redick has called Smart the quarterback of the team's defense early this season, and by Smart's own admission, the Lakers' defense has plenty of room for improvement . In terms of the regular rotation players, Smart is top-five on the team in defensive rating with 115.1, as per StatMuse
Smart has appeared in 14 games so far, including nine starts, at a little over 26 minutes per game. He's been averaging 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals with splits of 40.8 percent shooting from the field, 25.4 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 93.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Although Smart's percentages have been low, save for his free-throw percentage, his value to the Lakers goes far beyond his efficiency. Now in his 12th season in the NBA, Smart is the only guard since Gary Payton in 1996 to have won the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Lakers will have two days off after the Suns game, and with Redick saying Smart is essentially day to day, his next update will probably be on Thursday when the Lakers face the Toronto Raptors .
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