Marcus Smart helps spark Oklahoma State win from the stands
BOSTON -- Marcus Smart can get under the skin of an opponent like few others. He uses that to his advantage when he's on the court for the Boston Celtics.
On Monday night, Smart's presence helped his alma mater, but he wasn't on the court. Just close enough to get inside the head of Oklahoma State's opponent.
With the Celtics in Oklahoma ahead of Tuesday night's game against the Thunder, Smart checked out Oklahoma State's matchup against West Virginia to cheer on his Cowboys on Monday night. The Celtics guard ended up playing a part in a West Virginia technical foul in the second half, which helped spark his former team to a victory.
Drawing a technical foul from the stands? Seems like something only Marcus Smart could pull off.
West Virginia was on a roll in the second half, with Erik Stevenson heating up from the floor. After a made three, Stevenson and Smart -- who was courtside -- shared some words. After he made his third straight three at one point, which put the Mountaineers up 53-51 with just over seven minutes to play, a fired-up Stevenson made an "inappropriate gesture" toward the crowd. That gesture was aimed at Smart, according to Jacob Unruh of the Oklahoman.
Everyone saw the gesture, including the officials. It wasn't the best decision by Stevenson, who was hit with a technical foul that ended up changing the complexion of the game. Oklahoma State went on a 13-5 run after Stevenson's T, and the Cowboys won, 67-60.
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Boynton Jr. didn't see Stevenson's gesture toward Smart, but thanked the C's guard for his help in getting OK State a win on Monday evening. In addition to his second-half contribution, Smart also spoke with the team ahead of the game.
"Thank you Marcus. Another assist for Oklahoma State," said Boynton. "For him to take his time, take time out of his schedule -- they played last night, they play tomorrow -- he could have easily just said I need some rest. To come up here, support these kids, to go up here in this locker room and deliver a message that coaching is supposed to be hard, it's not supposed to be comfortable, is super significant."
Smart, who was the Big 12 Player of the Year while at Oklahoma State in 2013, will now look to help the Celtics notch a win on Tuesday night. Boston owns the best record in the NBA at 26-11, with Smart averaging 11.2 points and a team-high 7.4 assists per game.
