The Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart made history Monday, becoming the first two-time winner of the NBA Hustle Award.
Smart won his first Hustle Award during the 2018-19 season.
Patrick Beverley won the inaugural Hustle Award in 2017.
The Hustle Award rewards players for doing the little things that don’t show up in the box score, such as deflections, loose ball recoveries, box-outs, contested shots, drawing charges, and setting screens.
Smart ranked seventh in the league for charges drawn, 10th for defensive loose balls recovered, 12th for deflections, and in the top 100 in six other categories.
The 2021-22 NBA Hustle Award Winner is… Marcus Smart!#NBAAwards #NBA75 pic.twitter.com/sWWPIbhflZ
— NBA (@NBA) May 23, 2022
Smart finished the regular season averaging 12.1 points, a career-high 5.9 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals (7th in NBA), and 0.3 blocks.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Pat Connaughton finished second followed by Brooklyn’s Bruce Brown in third place, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis in fourth place, and Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart in fifth place.
The Celtics will try to even things up against Miami without the help of Smart, who twisted his ankle in Game 3.
Tip off is Monday night at 8:30 pm ET at TD Garden.
