The Boston Celtics lost the heart of the Los Angeles Lakers 96-95 on Saturday after failing to convert possible consecutive winning shots when the time expired, but defeat is the least of their worries, as Marcus Smart fell in the fourth period with a frightening-looking injury to the left calf area.
The Celtics quickly announced that Smart suffered a calf strain, but Boston fans will be holding their collective breath until an MRI can confirm the initial diagnosis. Everyone remembers the vivid repetition of Kevin Durant’s infamous Achilles laceration in the 2019 NBA finals, where you could see the tendon clearly breaking like the day, and Smart’s injury looked eerily similar.
This is the enlarged view of Smart’s injury:
Here is the enlarged view:
For comparison, here is what Durant’s wound looks like:
The Celtics probably administered a Thompson test immediately, which is usually an early way and needs to determine if an Achilles tendon is broken. But then again, close-up reproduction of Smart’s calf area may be reason to fear the worst until an MRI scan can make a definitive diagnosis.
Even if Smart’s injury is a strain on the calf, don’t be fooled by the innocuous “effort” designation. This can be a serious injury. Durant’s initial injury in the 2019 postseason, suffered in game 5 of the second round against Houston, was also a calf strain, and that kept him away for a month. If it weren’t for the finals when he returned, Durant would probably have gone closer to six weeks.
Dr. Alan Beyer, an orthopedic surgeon and executive medical director at the Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Southern California, spoke with CBS Sports during the 2019 Durant’s month-long calf strain recovery and repeatedly warned that a calf strain , which in reality is a tear, can easily become a precursor to a total Achilles rupture, which unfortunately became the case for Durant when he returned, perhaps too early.
Anyway, there is a good chance that Smart will be gone for a long time. But anything is better than a broken Achilles. It looked bad, but the Celtics will continue to hope that the original report of a calf strain is correct.