Marcus Smart never fully recovered from last season's ankle injury, the Boston Herald reports. "Last year, my ankle injury held me back from a lot of things. I couldn't do a lot of things that I was capable of doing in college, like getting to the rim. It

Smart never fully recovered from last season's ankle injury, the Boston Herald reports. "Last year, my ankle injury held me back from a lot of things. I couldn't do a lot of things that I was capable of doing in college, like getting to the rim. It kind of slowed me down," Smart acknowledged. "Now that my ankle's healing up, I'm getting to the rim. I'm beating people off the dribble and making plays like I was in college."

Analysis:

Smart suffered a left ankle sprain and bone bruise five games into his rookie season. Upon returning, he became a three-point taker, attempting 4.0 per contest and converting at a 34 percent clip. Roughly 57 percent of his shot attempts were from distance, and he only attempted 1.9 free throws in 27.0 minutes per game.