Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart suspended for preseason finale

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2:33 PM ET

  • Tim BontempsESPN

The Boston Celtics suspended guard Marcus Good for Friday’s preseason finale in Miami against the Heat mainly because he missed the team’s flight to Florida previously this week, a resource explained to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

“We are going to continue to keep that in-household,” Smart mentioned Thursday afternoon just after observe in Miami. “It can be about and accomplished with. We are fired up for the match at MSG, even though.”

The Celtics, now devoid of Jaylen Brown and Al Horford just after they examined positive for COVID-19, also sat Clever, Jayson Tatum, Dennis Schroder and Josh Richardson for Wednesday’s 103-102 loss in Orlando to the Magic. The program experienced been for the Celtics to engage in their regular players near to common minutes Friday prior to they open up the frequent time Wednesday at Madison Square Back garden towards former teammate Kemba Walker and the New York Knicks.

“It’s internal,” Celtics mentor Ime Udoka reported. “We have managed it. He’s remorseful, and we maintain Marcus to a large conventional. We have produced it crystal clear from Working day 1, so he’ll of course be out tomorrow evening. He is with us in this article on the vacation. Just glimpse ahead to moving on from this rising and clearly abiding by the workforce policies and concepts.

“Marcus is 1 of our leaders that we count on a good deal from. He understands that. He’s remorseful, and we will shift on from there.”

Clever, who signed a four-12 months, $77 million extension to continue to be with the Celtics — the only staff he is performed for since currently being drafted sixth total in 2014 — soon after environment career-significant averages in details (13.1), helps (5.7) and minutes (32.9) last period. He enters this period as Boston’s beginning position guard immediately after the Celtics traded Walker in the offseason.

But with Sensible and backup Payton Pritchard, who injured his nose in Wednesday’s video game, out Friday, together with Brown and Horford, Udoka is not going to get everything shut to a glance at his whole roster.

“We won’t get to see specific lineups that we naturally needed to see, but we have to move along,” Udoka stated. “We have completed that with Al and Jaylen out as properly. So we just experienced a good follow, extra some new things for tomorrow and the week going ahead, and we will retain it transferring. Guys will have the prospect, and then Marcus and some others will capture up when they come back in the future week or so.”

The Celtics are optimistic Brown will be out of the NBA’s well being and basic safety protocols in time to perform in opposition to the Knicks. Horford’s timeline, having said that, is a whole lot tighter.