Smart took a shot against the Bucks during Game 5 Tuesday night. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- Marcus Smart had 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal in 25 minutes off the bench in his return from a six-week absence in last night's Game 5 win over the Bucks, but Brad Stevens, Al Horford, and Terry Rozier don't measure the Celtics guard's contributions in numbers.
"You can look at stat sheets all you want with Marcus, it just doesn't tell the story," Stevens said. "It's his energy, it's his emotion, it's the little plays that turn out to be game-changing plays, like diving on the floor and flipping it to Al. The blocks, coming over when Shabazz Muhammad was really rolling and going up vertically and challenging his shot and making him miss. Those are huge plays."
"We fed off his energy tonight," Horford said. "I felt like the crowd fed off of it, we fed off of it, and it's just good to have him back. It's been just generally a good surprise for our group, because I didn't think he was coming back."
"He makes you want to play and get out there and go to war and battle it," Rozier said. "That's a great thing that he has, it's just great to have him back."
Smart is just happy.
"Confidence for us right now is high," he said. "This was a big game for us. We needed it, especially after they pounded us at their place two games in a row. And now, for us to come back and respond the way we did, I'm proud of this team, I'm proud of the guys."
Game 6 is Thursday.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman reports