Maybe it wasn’t exactly a dagger. Jayson Tatum had scored seven straight points to push a five-point lead to twelve in the final four minutes, but with just about a minute to go and any glimmer of hope for the Nets to stage a comeback fading away, Marcus Smart put the final nail in Brooklyn’s Game 2 coffin:
Smart would finish the game with a modest 12 points and 5 assists with his defense on Kyrie Irving (4-for-13 from the field, one assist with two turnovers) being his biggest contribution.
Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
But that lasting image of Smart and Game 2 might be that left-handed circus shot. He knew it. Jaylen Brown knew it and just had to get a closer look.
“I taught Marcus everything he knows,” Brown said after the game when asked about Smart’s lefty. “I know he’s the Defensive Player of the Year, but a lot of that, he learned from me. (laughs) Marcus played great. He does what Marcus does. He made some big plays down the stretch and we pulled out another win.”
