On March 10, after the Lakers beat the Timberwolves 120-106, Marcus Smart found himself studying Anthony Edwards' line in the box score. Exhaustion gave way to satisfaction: Edwards had 14 points on 2-for-15 shooting and was 0-for-5 in the 23 possessions Smart guarded. The same All-Star who tormented the Lakers last spring had been stifled by Smart, the veteran defender who joined Los Angeles months after Boston’s upset exit the previous season.
For the Lakers, the win was a rare clear sign of progress in an up-and-down year. For Smart, it was evidence that at 32 he can still take away elite scorers after two injury-marred seasons in Memphis and a brief stop in Washington — and after nearly losing use of his right hand years earlier.
Smart’s hand story is well-known but no less extraordinary: in 2018, frustrated after a loss in Los Angeles, he punched a picture frame and embedded a five-inch shard of glass into his palm. He bled heavily, received 20 stitches and was told he was lucky to keep use of the hand. Surgeons left a fragment of glass in place because removing it risked greater damage. He missed 11 games but returned to play a key role in Boston’s deep playoff runs, earned
