So we all know Fridays’s game wasn’t the greatest, but there’s some good to go with the bad.
When Boston is at home and are leading by 11+, they had an undefeated record at 19-0 this season. Well all good stats and undefeated records have to come to an end right? Over the last three home games, the Celtics have an 0-3 record after losing this game 99-94 to the struggling Jazz. Utah’s only wins since February 12th were the Heat, which is a solid win at home, the Wizards, Cavaliers, and Knicks, then Boston Friday.. so yeah.
But! There’s a positive side to this loss knowing a Utah team that’s 4th in the West only won by 5 points over a C’s team that’s missing Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and has Kemba still on minutes restriction. Not to mention they’re still trying to implement Robert Williams back into the lineup also on limited minutes. The whole team struggled offensively, only shooting 37% from the field compared to the Jazz, who shot 45%.
The bench haunts me:
So yet again Boston’s bench was relied on to score, which ultimately ended up exactly like you’d imagine. The six players who played off the bench were a combined 5/18 from the field. Every player off the bench had a negative plus minus which isn’t exactly what you want, especially when Utah’s 4 players had a plus minus positive over 20+.
When Boston is a fully healthy team, most of the bench’s role is filling into a second unit while a starter carries the scoring load. For example when Tatum stays in with the second unit, it’s a top priority to work the offense mainly through him, now yes that isn’t the whole game plain but that’s the biggest part of their role off the bench. They’re expected to move the ball and find the right players for open looks. However, it bothers me when a player like Carsen Edwards passes up good looks when his primary objective should be to score. I mean his tapes show the potential at Purdue and with Boston’s fantastic G-League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws with shot making and scoring quickly. But Carson’s roles for each team are very different. In Edwards’ position at Purdue, he was the main scorer and facilitator. For the Red Claws, you saw him get more developed into a passer, though he was already a good passer, he just worked on adding it in more to his game while still being that effective scorer. Then with Boston he’s predominately a facilitator with occasional 3 point attempts.
When asked about a question on the bench Stevens replied with: “I don’t wanna make any generalizations about our bench until we have our roster in full” per @chrisgrenham
This is a response that could go multiple ways towards how fans portray it. I look to it in a sense that once the C’s are at full health you’ll see the bench rely on what the job is specifically for them and not what has been a duck taped solution into as a fix to player injuries.
In more time when the Celtics hopefully get fully healthy before the playoffs, you’ll see the team everyone was hoping for, which was starters doing damage and then bench to playing their role effectively. They’re meant to focus on passing, playing good D, keeping a lead and letting the first unit rest. I’m just hoping the C’s get healthy quickly and get to play with a healthy roster before the playoffs. That way the rust falls off before a fresh series starts and you gotta kind of get that chemistry back.
Kemba Walker: “We’ll be fine. We just need guys to get healthy.” Per @ByJayKing
Next up for the Celtics is the Thunder at home on Sunday at 6 ☘️.
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