It’s official. Marcus Smart is, undeniably, a better shooter than Larry Bird.
Well, no, not quite, though he does now definitively hold an edge in one significant area.
Smart hit four 3-pointers en route to 24 points in the Celtics’ 145-136 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Along the way, he leapfrogged Bird and moved into fourth on the franchise’s all-time list for 3-pointers made.
Bird had 649 in an era where the 3-point line wasn’t nearly as much of a staple as it is now. Smart moved ahead of him with 4:28 left in the third quarter when he corralled a pass from Kemba Walker and drilled a shot from the corner.