BOSTON – Day 25 of his rehab from a left oblique tear marked a significant milestone for Marcus Smart, as he began to ramp up his basketball activities. Though he did not go through live contact with his teammates Thursday afternoon, the Celtics guard still went through various drills, played 1-on-1 with a team assistant, and even threw down a dunk, all while experiencing very little discomfort.

“Today was a great day,” Smart exclaimed after wrapping up his workout at the Celtics’ training facility in Brighton. “I was able to do some things more and more. This is the next step, the next process to getting me back on the court to be able to do simple things, like basketball activities such as driving to the rim and really moving and getting my abdominal and torso muscles going and trying to see how that affects me. We’re just trying to get a baseline on how everything goes.”

The most promising sign of Smart’s progress has been his lack of pain. When he initially suffered the injury on April 7 against the Orlando Magic, Smart likened the pain level to that of getting stabbed with a knife. In the following days, he had difficulty walking, laughing and even breathing.

“The pain level is going down,” he stated. “The breathing is getting better. It's not as sore, so that's even better. Mild contact, like if I get bumped just walking down the street, two weeks ago that was excruciating pain for me. This week it’s better. And day-by-day it continues to get better.”

Smart remains patient throughout the recovery process, though he is admittedly a bit anxious to return. As someone who hates to miss any game action, he doesn’t enjoy having to look on helplessly from the sidelines, especially in a scenario like Tuesday night when he watched his teammates fall 123-102 to the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

That was hard,” Smart said. “I was heated, obviously. Being able to talk to the guys is different than being on the court. Just to see those guys fight and struggle and I'm not out there with them. But it's part of the game, and that's why you have four other guys with you, and a whole roster.”

And Smart will do his best to provide encouragement to those other guys while he remains out.

"I’m just trying to coach up guys, especially those younger guys on the defensive end,” he said. “Playoffs, you know, defense is elevated even more. We've got a lot of guys that can play defense, athletically and physically. I'm just trying to get the best and the most I can out of those guys on the defensive end.”

The next step in Smart’s recovery process is playing with live contact. He’s not sure when that day will come, but once he’s able to compete in live action and play 5-on-5 without any negative consequences, he’ll likely be cleared to return.

“We're just taking it day-by-day,” he reiterated. “Unfortunately, there's nothing really you can do. One day it might feel good, one day it might not. So, you've got to take it day-by-day and take it slow.”

Taking a slow and steady approach Smart hopes will get him back in the race as soon as possible.