In Wednesday’s post-practice media session, the Boston Celtics announced that shooting guard Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis are questionable against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday after falling ill. Smart, who would miss practice on Wednesday, has only missed one game this season.
Smart and Theis would both play useful roles against a fast and athletic Kings team.
One of the NBA’s premier defenders, Smart’s defense against Kings guards Buddy Hield and De’Aaron Fox would make quite an impact, as Fox boasts an athletic advantage against Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving (and plenty of other Celtics as well). Hield has averaged a team-high 20.9 points per game while knocking down his triples at a 43.2 percent clip. A star at the University of Oklahoma, Hield has finally started to come into his own into the NBA.
As has Fox, who’s averaging 17.5 points, 7.2 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from three-point range.
Kings big men Marvin Bagley III and Willie Cauley-Stein are averaging a combined 25.3 points and 15.6 rebounds per game. Though Celtics center Al Horford will certainly hold his own against either big man, having Theis as an option over Aron Baynes, who isn’t quite the athlete of either Bagley or Cauley-Stein, could benefit Boston.
