Celtics believe Marcus Smart's strained Achilles will be 'quick-healing'

Marcus Smart's momentum continues to get derailed in his rookie season.

The Boston Celtics point guard suffered a strained left Achilles tendon on Friday, forcing him from the team's game against the New York Knicks. Smart had just returned less than two weeks ago from a bad ankle sprain, and so the timing seems somewhat unfair from the injury gods.

Still, there's reason to be positive. Head coach Brad Stevens said after the game that the team doesn't think they'll be without their tenacious freshman for long.

"I don’t know what a strained Achilles means from a long-term standpoint," Stevens said. "But I know that Dr. (Brian) McKeon said that he should be relatively quick-healing. But he didn’t feel comfortable sending him back in tonight."

The injury limited Smart to just 3:40 of action Friday, continuing what's surely been a frustrating stretch. After sitting for 10 games with the ankle injury, Smart played sparingly in his first few outings back, then played 35 minutes on Monday, only to again have a limited role Wednesday and then suffer the latest injury.

In the 10 games he's been able to play, Smart is averaging 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.9 steals in 16.4 minutes. While he's shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor, he's shown a lot of encouraging signs, especially on the defensive end. As a result, the Celtics have been 18 points per-100 possessions better with him than without him.