Celtics' Marcus Smart on track to return to practice next week
Marcus Smart is unsure when he'll return to game action. But the Boston Celtics' point guard is on track to participate in full practice by the middle of next week for the first time since severely spraining his ankle at the beginning of November.
Smart went down in a heap and had to be stretchered off the court after spraining his left ankle in a Nov. 7 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Sunday's contest against the Portland Trail Blazers at the TD Garden marks the seventh consecutive game the rookie will miss.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is unsure if Smart will be able to play the Celtics' next contest Friday against the Chicago Bulls, and would like to see the 20-year-old involved in practice before offering up a potential return date.
"He's been doing his work in the weight room as far as conditioning," Stevens said, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sportsnet. "He hasn't gotten a lot of basketball-specific conditioning. We'll see how much work he needs to do once he gets back on the court. That's a concern, certainly."
Smart is averaging 6.8 points in 20.4 minutes per game.