Celtics Marcus Smart on tailbone injury: ‘We’ll see how I feel in the morning’

After sitting in the driver’s seat through the first two games, the Boston Celtics fell to the Atlanta Hawks 130-122 in Game 3 on the road at State Farm Arena. While Boston shot well from beyond the arc, they failed to answer Atlanta on the boards and the Hawks’ transition offense. The Celtics were outrebounded 48-29, and outscored in the pain 54-40 after tying or leading in paint points in the first two games.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Marcus Smart in his postgame press conference. If anything, Game 3 was much more about the Hawks than it was about the Celtics. Atlanta leaned heavily on their rebounding and paint presence, where the overwhelming majority of their points came from. Boston shot 43.8% from beyond the arc, but on almost 50 attempts (21-of-48 from three), their highest attempts total this series. While it was a frustrating loss, it felt like Atlanta making a stand on homecourt. Smart cited rebounds as a major issue for Boston, since it led to so many second chance buckets for the Hawks (outscored Boston 23-9).

“There’s nothing tactical about it,” said Smart on the Hawks winning the battle of the boards. “It’s just a matter of will. And they wanted it more tonight. They go every night. We’ve gotta be able to stop that. Like I said, they’re getting second-chance shots, they get to feeling good.”

The talks and chatter about a sweep ultimately fell short, but the messaging within the locker room has remained steady and consistent: take care of business and don’t underestimate your opponent. Boston will have the opportunity to answer on Sunday at 7PM EST in Atlanta, where they can potentially take a 3-1 lead…or, the Hawks tie this series up at two apiece.

Later in the game, Marcus Smart went up for a rebound attempt, took some contact in the air, and came down hard directly on his tailbone. While he ended up playing the rest of the game, it was still very much bothering him after the final whistle.

“Sore,” said Smart when asked by NBC Sport’s Abby Chin how his tailbone was feeling. “It’s sore. Same spot as the last time, (the fall) just caught me off guard. We’ll see how it feels in the morning.” With his physicality and playstyle, these types of injuries have become commonplace for Boston’s longest-tenured player and de facto tone-setter on both sides of the ball.