When the Los Angeles Lakers signed Marcus Smart, they knew they were bringing in someone that can set the tone defensively and bring some much-needed toughness to the roster.
He did exactly that in their win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Smart was taking charges, creating turnovers and diving for loose balls all night.
Smart only had three points, one assists and two steals in 21 minutes of action, but he arguably made as big of an impact as anyone, as evidenced by him having the best plus/minus in the game at +24.
After the win, Smart spoke about his ability to impact a game without putting up stats.
“I try not to look at the stats,” he said. “For me, unfortunately stats aren’t going to do me any justice, so I try not to worry about it. I just try to go out there, and like I said, do what I’m supposed to do, and help my teammates out the best way I can. Being a plus-24 is great and everything and it definitely shows the impact that can be made without touching the ball, scoring the ball, shooting the ball. And that’s huge for us.”
A focus for Smart on this team is setting the tone on a nightly basis.
“Just wanted to set the tone with my actions, my words, trying to get everybody in the right spots,” Smart said. “Just get everybody going. We were playing against a really good team tonight and they brought it, they punched us in the mouth early and we needed to respond. So I just wanted to make sure we did that.”
If Smart’s play continues, it will be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity in the starting lineup. Regardless, the 31-year-old has been a breath of fresh air for this Lakers team and should continue to have a big role whether that’s starting or coming off the bench for JJ Redick.
Austin Reaves praises Marcus Smart after Lakers win
After the Lakers picked up their first win, Austin Reaves made sure to shout out Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt for their contributions.
“Yeah, I mean, they came off that bench and that bench group was big for us,” Reaves said. “They guarded at a high level and they just competed. They had back-to-back possessions, Marcus got one steal, it should have been two, but he lost the other one. But just laying his body out on the line for us and giving us opportunities over and over again. That’s the same with Jake [LaRavia]. DA [Deandre Ayton] was a monster tonight. So just continuing to build those things, trusting one another and we’ll be fine.”
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