Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump

When Smart checked in midway through the third quarter, the Celtics trailed 63-56. They had already started a bit of a comeback, but over the next four minutes, Smart pushed them into the lead with a string of successful pick-and-rolls – showing intelligence and poise in an area that hasn’t been a real strength of his this season.

On Smart’s first possession of the second half, he threw a nice pass to Tyler Zeller for a layup. The big man missed but put in his own rebound. After that, Smart unleashed one of his most promising stretches of point-guardishness this season.

For about four minutes, the Celtics repeatedly went to an action that gave Zeller a choice: dive to the post or run a pick-and-roll with Smart.

“And the way they were defending that,” head coach Brad Stevens said after the 100-99 win, “Tyler just kept making the read to the pick-and-roll.”

“Marcus did a pretty good job in that. I thought he held on to one a little bit long, but we’ll go over all those on film. I thought he did a really good job though making plays off of it. He got to the foul line, did some good things.”

MassLive – Marcus Smart showcased pick-and-roll improvements in Boston Celtics latest win

Being a successful point guard at the NBA level requires one very important skill set: running the pick-and-roll effectively.  If you can’t execute this basic staple of an NBA offense, you’ll find yourself sitting on the bench or out of the league.  As a rookie, Marcus Smart has struggled at times early on with this, but slowly has been improving. Jay King highlighted some of those improvements in the post linked above, and for the development of the Celtics as a team, this is paramount to their overall improvement.

Smart is learning, and he’s already show his ability to learn quickly.  The improvements on his jumper, especially his three-point shooting has been well documented.  Now, as he’s developing his point guard skills in terms of running the offense, his next step is to increase his drives to the basket to either generate close looks, or draw fouls.  He rarely, if ever does this.  But, he has the right frame of mind to learn and improve and if he continues to learn the pick-and-roll he’ll get even more confidence.  It’s unfortunate that he will miss tonight’s game vs. GState, (rightfully so due to a death in the family).  But he’ll return, and his roller coaster rookie year will continue.

Page 2: Dawkins enters NBA Jam mode for Red Claws

After a quiet debut with the Maine Red Claws on the day he was signed to a 10-day contract by the Boston Celtics, Andre Dawkins responded Saturday night by erupting for 27 points while connecting on a team-record eight 3-pointers in a 103-94 loss to his former team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Dawkins misfired on 12 of 13 3-pointers during Friday’s loss in Delaware, but bounced back to make 8 of 18 attempts during Saturday’s game. He added seven assists over 39 minutes against Sioux Falls.

ESPN Boston – Dawkins sets Red Claws 3-point record

The D-League is all sorts of crazy.  There are some staggering offensive numbers being tossed up all around the D-League this year, and it did not stop in Maine, where the C’s newest member, Andre Dawkins, dropped a team record eight threes.  To me, it’s more impressive that he’s jacked up 31 threes in two games! Somewhere, Antoine is shimmying.

The rest of the links:

ESPN Boston – 2014-15 Celtics midseason report card | Smart to miss Sunday’s game vs Warriors

Boston Globe – Avery Bradley is finally putting it all together for Celtics | Shaun Livingston an unsung contributor for league-best Warriors (Sunday Notes)

Boston Herald – Guard becomes go-to guy in the clutch | Gerald Wallace a big help

CSNNE – Blakeley’s midseason Celtics report card

MassLive – Marcus Smart will miss game against Golden State Warriors