Is Marcus Smart playing tomorrow vs the Spurs?

RC Nazemi

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Is Marcus Smart playing tomorrow vs the Spurs? image

The knockout stage of the NBA Cup starts this week, with the Eastern Conference quarterfinals beginning today and the Western Conference quarterfinals to be played on Wednesday. 

The Los Angeles Lakers (17-6) will take on the San Antonio Spurs (16-7) as they attempt to bring home their second NBA Cup trophy in three years. 

The Spurs have been without a couple of their best players, like Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, but Castle should be good to play on Wednesday. 

The Lakers have also been missing guys on and off, like LeBron James (injury management), Luka Dončić (personal reasons), and defensive anchor Marcus Smart (back injury management). The Lakers have been without Smart for the last six games. 

Today, Smart took the reporting into his own hands and revealed his status for tomorrow’s game against the Spurs. 

Marcus Smart set to “give it a shot"

When asked prior to tomorrow’s game whether he’d play or not, Marcus Smart didn’t leave it up to the Lakers' training staff or coaches to reveal his status. He did it himself. 

Marcus Smart told the media, “Back is feeling good. Felt good in practice today…I’m going to give it a shot tomorrow and see how it feels."

Smart has been one of Los Angeles’ best FA signings from this summer as he’s set the tone on defense, won 50/50 and hustle plays, and even stabilized the offense at times. This season, Smart is averaging 9.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.9 APG, and 1.8 SPG (5th in NBA). 

Marcus Smart is 31 years old and in the 12th season of his career. The fact that he still plays the way that he plays despite his injury history is wild to watch. His return will provide a massive boost tomorrow against San Antonio. 

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Contributing Writer