Marcus Smart’s ankle injury appeared to be more serious than first thought, but the Celtics guard is desperate to play in the NBA Finals. Robert Williams has also announced that he will play despite his injury. All the news and rumors are here.
NBA Finals – Smart injury: “Grateful I can walk”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been struggling with a serious ankle injury since Game 3 of the Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. At a press conference ahead of the start of the NBA Finals (Friday, 3 p.m. live on DAZN) the 28-year-old has now revealed how serious the injury really was.
“That ankle injury was a very serious one. I’m grateful to be able to play, let alone walk,” said Smart. “It hurts, but my mother always said to me: When you’re on the court, there are no excuses.”
Smart was injured shortly after the start of the third quarter of Game 3 (103:109) when he twisted his right ankle badly while fighting for an offensive rebound. Although he returned to the floor again, he then had to take a break in game 4 and has been playing badly ever since. He also has problems with his right thigh and right foot.
“When I’m on the court, no matter how much pain I’m in, I can’t let it affect me,” Smart said. The Defensive Player of the Year will play an important role as a defender for Warriors superstar Stephen Curry in the NBA Finals.
NBA Finals, Celtics: Smart and Williams want to play
Despite his injury, Smart wants to play, as does Robert Williams. The starting center is struggling with a contusion in the same knee where he tore a meniscus just a few weeks ago and has also had to sit out several times this postseason due to knee problems. For Game 1, he is officially listed as “Doubtful”.
But the 24-year-old has announced that he also wants to appear. “It’s doable. I’ve kind of developed a routine over the past few games of what I have to do to get fit to play,” said Williams. Most recently, however, coach Ime Udoka limited his playing time so as not to put too much strain on his center.
“That helps, of course,” Williams admitted. “I haven’t been able to rest so far so playing fewer minutes definitely helped.” The Celtics have had a little time to rest since Game 7 on Monday night, but Golden State has had a three-day break. The conference finals were still played every other day, the program for the finals isn’t quite as tough anymore.
NBA Finals: Celtics East Finals drew more viewers
As ESPN announced Wednesday, Game 7 of the Eastern Finals between the Heat and Celtics was the highest-rated Conference Finals game on the network in four years. On average, 9.8 million people watched, with a peak of up to 12 million.
However, the game performed rather poorly in historical comparison. Celtics vs. Heat was the lowest-rated Game 7 since 2005 (Pistons vs. Heat), the sixth Game 7 in that span. The five other games each topped the 10 million mark.
Across the entire series, an average of 6.98 million people watched the Eastern Conference Finals ESPN, up 40 percent from last year (Bucks vs. Hawks). The average was also higher than that of this year’s West Finals between the Warriors and Mavericks (6.7 million viewers in 5 games). For the first time since 2014, the East Finals attracted more spectators than the West Finals.
NBA Finals: Warriors vs. Celtics – The dates at a glance
| Spiel | Datum | time | Heim | away | transmission |
| 1 | June 3 | 3 o’clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | DAZN |
| 2 | June the 6th | 2 O ‘clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | DAZN |
| 3 | 9. June | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | DAZN |
| 4 | June 11 | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | DAZN |
| 5* | 14th of June | 3 o’clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | DAZN |
| 6* | June 17 | 3 o’clock | Boston Celtics | Golden State Warriors | DAZN |
| 7* | 20. June | 2 O ‘clock | Golden State Warriors | Boston Celtics | DAZN |
*if necessary