Marcus Smart apologizes for injury suffered in outburst
— -- SAN FRANCISCO --? Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart will miss approximately two weeks after lacerating his right hand in a non-basketball incident prior to Wednesday's 113-102 win over the LA Clippers, the team announced Friday.
Smart tweeted Friday that he injured his hand while swiping at a picture frame on the wall at the team hotel. While his teammates prepared for Saturday's game against the Golden State Warriors, Smart was apologizing to the organization and fans.
Smart returned to Boston on Thursday and was evaluated by doctors Anthony Schena and Andrew Terrono at New England Baptist Hospital.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said the team will discuss further discipline for Smart internally but noted that his immediate focus was getting the players who are available ready to face the Warriors.
"Disappointed, as you can imagine," Stevens said of Smart's actions. "That's probably the right word for it. It is what it is. Our other guys will be looking forward to the challenge tomorrow."
Asked if there were concerns about Smart's temper given past flare-ups, including punching a hole in a wall after being sent to the locker room early during a game in Washington, Stevens said Smart needs to channel his emotions properly.
"Obviously, he's a very passionate person and didn't handle his emotions correctly [this week]," Stevens said. "That's something that we'll talk about more with him and go from there."
Celtics All-Star big man Al Horford practiced Friday and said he has not experienced any concussion-like symptoms since getting hit in the head during Tuesday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Horford sat out Wednesday's win over the Clippers as a precaution but said he expected to play against the Warriors.
"Everything cleared up, and I didn't have a concussion," said Horford, who has had two concussions over the past two seasons. "The team was trying to protect me, just due to the history of everything, but I'm just happy I'm able to go through practice, workouts, and be fine. ... This extra day has helped me get prepared for [Saturday]."
Horford said the team will support Smart despite the fact that his absence leaves the Celtics short-handed. Boston snapped a four-game losing streak with Wednesday's win.
"It's unfortunate to see that. Marcus is a teammate that I have a lot of respect for, and I'm going to stand by him," Horford said. "Whatever the decision was, he made a bad decision. As a group, we're going to support him, and I hope that he gets well. We expect him to be back."
Said Kyrie Irving: "For us it's next man up. It's unfortunate what happened, and I think it's up to Coach, what's best for our team after this. So I'll leave that all to Coach."
Smart, 23, is in his fourth NBA season. He is averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 assists in 46 games this season and has started 10 contests.
