BOSTON (AP) — The reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year showed he can do it on offense, too.
Celtics point guard Marcus Smart had a career-high 15 assists on Monday night, adding 22 points to help Boston beat the Charlotte Hornets 140-105 and give the defending Eastern Conference champions their 13th win in 14 games.
“He’s always brought it defensively,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I have full trust in him diagnosing where the matchup is, where the advantage is, and what can we do to exploit that. And he’s doing a great job anticipating that once he gets the ball.