Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart reacted like a firecracker had gone off nearby when Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday stepped forward and simply took the ball away in the final moments Wednesday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, helping Milwaukee seal a 110-107 win in Boston and take a 3-2 lead in the series.
Those in Milwaukee, naturally, took notice, particularly because Smart was named this year’s NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Holiday, also acclaimed for his defense, took eighth in the voting. But Holiday’s steal and block against Smart proved to be two gargantuan moments. And Smart’s over-exuberant reaction to the latter, which lines up with Bucks’ fans sentiment that Smart has a propensity for “flopping,” has joined the meme-verse.
Smart became the first guard since 1996 to be named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Giannis Antetokounmpo took sixth in the voting, and Celtics big man Robert Williams took seventh, just ahead of Holiday.
Check out these examples of how Bucks fans immortalized the moment.
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.