Boston Celtics

Celtics' Smart used snow day to work on his shot, then buried Philly

Published Jan. 25, 2016 9:45 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Boston Celtics have a lot of faith in second-year point guard Marcus Smart. They think he's a building block, a possible star and franchise pillar.

Squaring off against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, that's exactly what the 21-year-old looked like. He ran the pick-and-roll, scored from the post and, most importantly, knocked down several three pointers to help Boston run away with a victory.

Here's MassLive's Jay King with more on what led to Smart's explosive outing:

This weekend, he admitted losing confidence, but suggested a snow day could be helpful -- it would give him an opportunity to work on his release. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. During the first quarter, Smart hit the low post -- where he has been working more often lately -- for a turnaround jumper and later drilled a pull-up in the pick-and-roll. A quarter later, he swished a 3-pointer, then another, and another, finally finding a bit of rhythm with his outside shot. By halftime, he had racked up his first three 3-pointer game since Nov. 5. Smart did miss his last three triples, but one of those was an end-of-quarter heave. If he can get back to being a decent long-range shooter, like he was last year, his other offensive improvements will have a greater impact.

It looks like all that snow was a good thing for at least one person in the New England area. Smart's work ethic is one reason why the Celtics have such high hopes that his weaknesses will eventually turn into strengths. Performances like the one he had in Philly should lead to more confidence, and more selfies: