The 2021-22 NBA season was one with a lot of positives for Marcus Smart. He and the Boston Celtics completed a remarkable turnaround in the second half of the season to reach the NBA Finals and he was rewarded for his excellent play by being crowned the Defensive Player of the Year.
Unfortunately, the dream season did not end the way they wanted, as they lost in six games to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. The biggest reason for that was Stephen Curry, who tore apart what was the best defense in the league, and even Smart had no answer for him. With the teams facing off for the first time since that Finals on Saturday night, Smart said he had been thinking about Curry all summer during workouts.
via Heavy:
“That was one of the greatest challenges I’ve had, a fun challenge,” Smart told Heavy Sports, looking back to the Finals and then ahead. “I’m looking forward to it again.”
“I was thinking about him all summer when I was going through my workouts. I was thinking about what I have to do against him. And that’s good. It just gives me more ways, more things to add to my game on both ends — defensively and offensively — when you’ve got a great player that you’re going up against.
A lot of players in the league were probably thinking about Curry all summer after his spectacular showings in the playoffs in general. It doesn’t mean anyone has particularly found a way to slow him down, as he is having arguably the best season of his career.
Can Stephen Curry Win MVP This Season?
If the Warriors had gotten off to the kind of start they had last season, Curry might have been the MVP frontrunner at this point. They are just 13-13 this time around, though, which hurts his case, but he is in the conversation.
As for the MVP favorite, Stephen A. Smith said Jayson Tatum is clearly his MVP, and he also has the Celtics as the favorites for the title at this time. The Warriors have more than held their own in this game, however, as they are leading after the first quarter, but there’s still a lot of time left.
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