Celtics' Marcus Smart Will Return from Injury for NBA Playoffs Game 4 vs. Bucks

The Boston Celtics will have one of their emotional leaders and best defensive players available for the first time in these playoffs when they take the floor Monday at TD Garden for Game 4 of their second-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

Boston announced Marcus Smart will return from an oblique injury that has kept him sidelined since April 7:

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens later told reporters that Smart will not be on a minutes restriction in his return.

While Smart didn't exactly turn heads with his per-game averages of 8.9 points, 4.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds this season, he is the exact type of presence the Celtics have been missing against the Bucks as they dropped two of the first three games.

He is versatile enough to defend multiple positions, including Milwaukee All-Star wingman Khris Middleton. Middleton shot a blistering 65 percent from three-point range in the first three games of this series and scored 28 points on 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc in Game 2.

Smart can provide more of a counter to Middleton on the wing, which will, in turn, let more of his teammates focus on swarming Giannis Antetokounmpo when he attacks the lane.

The Oklahoma State product wasted little time bringing a physical presence to the defensive side and drew a charge in Saturday's practice—his first after he was cleared for contact.

"[Saturday] in the 3-on-3, and it responded really well," he said, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com. "[I] took a charge on accident. I wasn't trying to, just kind of fell. I kind of fell. I wasn't even trying to take it ... It was ironic because that's what I needed to do. And it just happened on its own, natural. It felt fine."

That is welcome news for the Celtics as they attempt to climb back from a 2-1 hole and reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight year.