LOS ANGELES — Marcus Smart watched as Austin Reaves held court, the Lakers’ second-leading scorer Friday night sharing to television cameras, and hands held out with phones and recorders, how he processed the 125-122 victory over the Clippers.
Compared to the 29 points and six rebounds that Reaves produced – along with drawing the arguably game-sealing charge that fouled out Clippers guard Bennedict Mathurin – Smart had little to wax over.
Forget second or third fiddle, the 31-year-old veteran guard didn’t record an assist as a starting guard Friday, nor did he score until the fourth quarter.
But ask any of his teammates or coach JJ Redick: Smart’s grit, IQ and leadership may have been the most vital ingredient to the Lakers holding on to scrape by their crosstown foes.
It was Smart, the three-time All-Defensive teamer, who stabbed at Mathurin as he weaved toward the paint, forcing the Clippers primary scorer to barrel his way into Reaves with 1:49 remaining.
“Marcus goes out there and causes chaos for whoever he’s guarding any night,” Reaves said. “Super-high energy, handsy, he gets a lot of deflections and just changes the game on that end of the floor.”
It was Smart, Redick said, who rallied the troops in the team huddles as the Clippers clawed their way back from a 16-point deficit to temporarily take the lead.
“Just huge stuff from him, leadership in the huddles, all that,” Redick said.
Smart shared the focus he attempted to instill in the Lakers (34-21) to carry out a win to begin the final 28-game stretch toward the playoffs.
“We said it before – we’re very talented on offensive end and we got a lot of people that can make plays for us,” Smart told the Southern California News Group. “For us, it’s just understanding that and understanding that at any given moment, your time is going to be there, and you got to be ready for it.”
“These guys (LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Reaves), because they are so good, they draw so much attention that you got to be ready, because when they do make their pass, you better knock it down for them.”
It was Smart who knocked down those shots, who emerged for a combination of fourth-quarter buckets that sunk the Clippers (27-29) back to two games below .500.
The first shot was a 3-pointer courtesy of James – to take a 107-106 lead – who found the 6-foot-3 shooting guard alone in the corner as Mathurin sagged away from the guard who had yet to attempt a shot. Smart forced contact from Mathurin, who was then hounding the Lakers guard on the wing, for his second attempt from the field and to tie the game at 109 from just inside the 3-point line.
“Seven minutes left in the fourth, or whatever it was, and he hasn’t taken a shot, and we come out of a timeout, he makes a 3, and then he makes another one,” Redick said. “I guess it was a long 2, but in my mind it was a 3.”
And to provide the Lakers with a five-point lead, one that was tested up until the final buzzer, Smart drilled a 15-point jumper through a shooting foul from Clippers guard Jordan Miller.
“I thought Smart stayed ready,” James said. “I thought he was a true professional. Didn’t shoot the ball at all pretty much throughout the first three quarters and then, in the fourth quarter, hit big-time shots for us.”
Smart’s efforts weren’t lost on center Deandre Ayton, who said Smart was at the heart of the “main point” that the Lakers emphasized: togetherness.
“Marcus (was) sacrificing the whole game until late fourth quarter before he started taking shots,” Ayton said.
Smart said the defensive game plan – “trusting each other” – helped lead the Lakers into the win column rather than crumbling for a late defeat, one that would have been not too dissimilar to the nine-point loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 9.
Redick said pregame Thursday that Smart helps set the tone for the defense, taking on difficult assignments for the better of the team. On Friday, Smart helped the Lakers hold the Clippers to just 27 points in the fourth quarter, their lowest point total in a period Friday, and nudged their foes into 2-pointers or missed shots on their final eight attempts from the field – all coming with a chance to tie or take the lead.
“Smart, you know, was fantastic on defense all night,” Redick said.
Doncic concurred with his coach.
“Obviously on the defensive end, he’s one of the best to ever do that,” Doncic said. “To stay in the game without a shot, we appreciate him for that.”
Notes
James said his left knee soreness started during a Thursday scrimmage when he landed awkwardly following a dunk. …
Doncic said his left hamstring felt good after missing the last four games with a mild strain before the All-Star break. …
The Lakers will honor former coach Pat Riley with a statue-unveiling ceremony before they take on the Celtics (36-19) on Sunday afternoon.
Boston at Lakers
When: 3:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: NBC, Peacock/ESPN LA 710, 980 KFWB
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