Although the Boston Celtics dropped a 96-95 heartthrob for the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday after failing to convert consecutive potential game-winning shots as time went on, the loss was the least of their concerns as Marcus Smart went down in the fourth quarter with a scary looking injury to his left calf area. It was soon announced that Smart had a damn calf, but there were many similarities between Kevin Durant’s infamous Achilles tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals, where you could see the tendon breaking clear as daytime, and Smart’s injury Saturday night.
Fortunately, Boston can exhale because Smart’s injury was not too serious as it was diagnosed as a grade 1 calf strain, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. While not nearly as important compared to a much more serious injury, Smart will still be sidelined for 1-2 weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Here’s the zoomed-out view of Smart’s injury, where he goes to the ground after trying to load to grab a rebound:
Here’s the zoomed-in view:
In the second video you can see something in Smart’s calf peek, and that was visibly similar to Durant’s injuryso you understand the immediate concern. However, after an MRI scan, Smart’s injury was not that serious. Still, Boston has no reason to try and rush him back to make sure he doesn’t injure himself again.