Smart, who played nine years with the Celtics, returned to Boston last February but was injured and watched the game from the bench. This time he was healthy enough to play against the Celtics.

And after his pregame practice, which included his ceremonial three-point shot that swept through the basket, he greeted fans, kissed his son and enjoyed the adulation.

“It felt good,” he said of his regimen. “Obviously familiar territory for me. It felt good to be on the pitch and it was good to see some familiar faces.”

The Celtics traded Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies in July 2023 as part of a three-team deal Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis along with Jrue holiday would help win an elusive title for the franchise while Smart spent most of his first season in Memphis injured.

This season, Smart has appeared in 13 of the Grizzlies’ 23 games, averaging 9.8 points, 4.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game while averaging 21.5 minutes of action per night.

Smart said he has no hard feelings despite being replaced after nine years. He played in 20 playoff series, including four Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals.

“I think my legacy (in Boston) will speak for itself,” he said. “I don’t know how my legacy will end here or what story will be told. I’ve done my part. I think I made such a big impact that (my legacy) should be good.

“I was really happy that these guys won. I went and told them what they were all up to and congratulated them. Obviously you want to be a part of it, but it happens (expletive). You just have to keep going.

“I know what these guys have been through. I know what they sacrificed.”

Spirit of Mazzulla

The Celtics were 1 for 2 tackles in their win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. In a sequence, middle Al Horford was convinced of it Giannis Antetokounmpo was the last to touch the ball after being deflected on one of his drives to the basket.

Horford lobbied the coach Joe Mazzulla to challenge and he obeyed, winning his argument and giving the ball to the Celtics.

In another play late in the fourth quarter, the Celtics led 107-102. Jaylen Brown was whistled for a foul Chris MiddletonMaking contact on a 3-point attempt. Brown called for Mazzulla to challenge, but the officials ruled there was contact with Middleton’s midsection and he was awarded three free throws.

Mazzulla said he trusts his players in their arguments for a challenge, but it’s more about whether the player is right. Mazzulla must consider whether he is willing to sacrifice a sacred timeout if he loses and whether the officials would call a foul in their review of the challenge.

Derrick White said he knew the ball had gone off Damian Lillard on a drive, but he advised Mazzulla not to challenge because he had also fouled Lillard and that may have been decided after the review.

“You have to listen to the players and trust them a lot,” Mazzulla said. “But because of the rule changes when adding a foul, it’s easy to listen to a guy saying, ‘Hey, I didn’t touch it,’ when it goes out of bounds.”

“But now that they can add a foul, Derrick said, ‘Don’t do it, I fouled him.’ It was our ball, but they would have added a foul. So you have to educate the guys, talk about it and really trust them.”

Mazzulla said it wasn’t a real decision to challenge the call on Brown because the Celtics were leading on two possessions with two timeouts and the Bucks were out of timeouts with 23.7 seconds left.

“For me, with Jaylen, it’s not about whether you win or lose,” the coach said. “It’s the value of it. There are two timeouts. You can save 3 points. There are 24 seconds left in the game. The other team has no timeouts.

“They take the risk because it is so valuable. You win 3 points and don’t necessarily need the time out. There’s so much in it.”

When asked how he manages to think so quickly when challenges require decisions to be made in seconds, Mazzulla said preparation is his job.

“I don’t really do anything else during a game,” he said. “I think that’s the most important thing before the game, what we do as a team to work on these emergency situations. As a team, you have to be able to observe late-game situations and process information relatively quickly.

“(Brown’s challenge) was simple. If you have two timeouts left and the other team doesn’t have any and you accidentally foul a three-pointer on two possessions, you have to challenge it.”

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Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.