Marcus Smart's mom starts chemo, wants son focused on playoffs

BOSTON -- Celtics guard Marcus Smart said his mother, Camellia, began chemotherapy treatments Monday as she continues her fight after a recent diagnosis with bone marrow cancer, but she has implored her son to remain focused on Boston's playoff run.

The Celtics are 7-2 since Smart returned from thumb surgery late in Boston's first-round win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On Sunday, Smart's mother was surrounded by family as she watched Boston's Game 1 triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals on Mother's Day.

"It's tough. I'm not going to lie, it is tough," said Smart. "I'm professional, we have a job to do. And that's something about my mom, she's real big on, 'I'm…