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The Boston Celtics Have Learned To Rely On Their “Next Man Up” Mentality
The Boston Celtics’ Marcus Good grimaces as he falls injured to the ground through the first half of … [+]
Getty PhotosThe Boston Celtics headed into Saturday afternoon’s sport towards the Toronto Raptors with out Jayson Tatum after which managed to lose each Marcus Good and Robert Williams. Nonetheless, they managed to drag off an 11-point comeback and notch their ninth straight victory. It’s been like this all season lengthy: the Celtics preserve experiencing harm setbacks and but their depth continues to make sure that it doesn’t matter.
Granted, it wasn’t easy crusing yesterday—it took a last-second Al Horford steal to seal the deal—however Boston’s bench helped them safe a victory in a sport they’d no enterprise successful. Tatum was having a upkeep day for his ailing left wrist, Williams was lifted after a collision with Jaylen Brown and Good suffered a proper ankle harm that compelled him out of the sport. Factoring in all that, the Celtics deserved to savor their 106-104 win over the Raptors.
Of the three accidents, Williams’s is probably the most regarding. Over the offseason, Williams had a second surgical procedure on his left knee—the identical knee he injured through the sport—which brought about him to overlook the start of the season. He hasn’t been an everyday fixture within the beginning lineup since his return on December 17. Final yr’s playoffs proved that the Celtics’ excellent lineup is one that includes Williams at heart, however the workforce has been understandably reluctant at hand him the everlasting beginning place till they know he is absolutely recovered.
That hasn’t been the one subject. Jaylen Brown missed just a few video games just lately with adductor tightness, whereas the Celtics have made the smart choice to not play the 36-year-old Horford on back-to-back nights through the common season. Solely Derrick White has performed in each Celtics sport this yr and even he received banged up towards the Raptors. Regardless of all this, the Celtics at present have a five-game lead within the Jap Convention over the Philadelphia 76ers after Saturday’s victory.
An enormous motive has been the bench. In opposition to the Raptors, Grant Williams had 25 factors and Malcolm Brogdon scored 23. Payton Pritchard, who has seen his minutes decline, was an unlikely fourth-quarter savior along with his 12-point efficiency off the bench, going 4-for-7 from past the three-point line.
Pritchard might need elevated his commerce worth on Saturday, however he additionally might have proven why Boston may hesitate to make any strikes by the deadline. Whereas it could make sense for the Celtics to see what they might get for a participant buried on one of many league’s deepest benches, nights like this reveal what worth he has for a workforce with reliable title hopes.
In basketball, not all people is all the time absolutely obtainable: key gamers get harm, get into foul bother or merely fall into prolonged slumps. The Celtics’ lack of depth harm them within the NBA Finals final yr they usually made strikes within the offseason exactly to deal with that. Judging from the proof at hand, it’s arduous to argue that the group hasn’t finished job of discovering the proper complementary items to encompass Tatum and Brown. Wouldn’t it actually be price risking altering that chemistry by making midseason strikes?
Possibly the workforce ought to take heed to Brogdon’s feedback after his 30-point efficiency towards the Charlotte Hornets. “We’ve received a whole lot of nice gamers on this workforce,” he mentioned again on January 14. “It’s a next-man-up mentality when somebody goes down. I feel that’s what we’ve been experiencing when JB’s been out, after I’ve been out, when whoever’s out, another person steps up.” Is {that a} mentality the Celtics can afford to mess with?