Next time you're having a few beers and throwing out random sports trivia questions, ask if anyone knows who holds the Boston Celtics' franchise record for 3-pointers made in a single game. Wait for the obvious guesses to roll in. Larry Bird? Ray Allen? Paul Pierce? Maybe Isaiah Thomas?
Nope. It's Marcus Smart.
Seriously?
Yes, seriously.
Smart, who has long been an irrationally confident shooter for a guy with a 31-percent career mark from downtown, has always had a knack for making big shots. He's a terrific player and a much improved shooter, a tribute to his work ethic. But to look up and see that he made 11 of 22 threes in a loss to the Suns on Saturday is nothing short of stunning.
If you're wondering, the previous Celtics record for 3-pointers made in a single game was nine by both the aforementioned Isaiah Thomas and Antoine Walker.
To be honest, I'm not sure what's more unbelievable about Smart's night -- that he made 11 threes, or that he shot 22 of them, which is also a franchise record. Prior to Smart, only three players in NBA history had ever attempted that many 3-pointers in a game: Klay Thompson, James Harden and J.R. Smith.
I can't stop laughing at that last name. J.R. Smith, as hot as he can get, gunning 22 threes in a single game is hilarious. It's also mind-bending for Smart, whose previous career high for made 3-pointers in a game was seven in his rookie season. It tells you everything you need to know about NBA basketball in 2020 that a subpar shooter can launch 22 threes in a game with impunity. That is just a preposterous number of attempts for a 33-percent 3-point shooter coming into the game.
But hey, he made half of them. More than half if you don't count the heave at the end of the game. And he was doing a lot more than shooting ... as usual. Smart wound up with 37 points and became the first player in history to log at least 10 made 3-pointers, eight assists and four steals in the same game.
Somehow, the Celtics still lost. To the Suns. Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown were both out, so it's understandable. But Boston is in a little skid of late, losers of its last three games as they've fallen to No. 4 in the East.
