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‘We know who we are,’ says Celtics’ Marcus Smart of the culture that nearly had Boston’s reserves beating Toronto’s starters

Justin Quinn
·3 min read

Despite missing not only starting big man Robert Williams III — out indefinitely with a meniscal tear — but also three other starters in Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum in the Boston Celtics’ game against the Toronto Raptors on Monday, the Intensive Care iteration of the Hospital Celtics was in the mix to win it with the next men up until the game’s final moments, even sending the contest to an extra period before falling 115 – 112.

Speaking with the media after the close loss in a joint appearance with teammate Derrick White, veteran point guard Marcus Smart related how the strong internal culture the team forged over the course of the season played a role in buoying the team down so many key players.

“We have an identity,” explained Smart. “We built that.”

“Early on in the year, we were looking forward, trying to find it,” explained the Flower Mound native. “We went through those struggles, now we have had a little success.”

“We know who we are defensively, culturally-wise, we know who we are, who we want to be. So to be able to have guys come in and keep that culture alive (when players sit), it just speaks volumes to what (Celtics head coach) Ime (Udoka) and everybody on this roster has done to prepare for that. He had to go through some stuff that we probably would never want to go through again or endure, but it’s part of it, and those types of moments make you stronger for moments like this.”

“So the culture is there, (you’ve) got to give it tip your hat, and give credit to him and his coaching staff and everything that they’ve done to rebuild this culture,” finished Smart.

The Celtics will need to lean into that culture if they are to have a chance to still be playing if and when starting center Robert Williams III is able to return from injury.

But odds are low the Celtics will find themselves needing to lean on their depth quite this hard in the postseason without a serious issue far beyond even the scope of the serious injury we are still hoping there’s a chance Timelord can come back from.

Even the best team culture has its limits, of course.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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