From the angst following last Tuesday’s loss to Miami to the self-affirmation they carried out of Friday night’s win over Toronto, the Celtics are essentially right where the rest of the league thought they would be – securely in the third seed heading into their last three games before the playoffs begin.
Starting today against a depleted Orlando team, and continuing through games against the Grizzlies and Wizards, the Celtics have only low seeds left. But now’s not the time to rest up for the playoffs, according to Brad Stevens.
“You obviously want to have great health, but conditioning is a great part of that, so we want all of our primary guys to play at least two more times out of three,” the Celtics coach said after Saturday’s practice. “All of our sports science people and everybody else feels a full week in between games is enough – certainly don’t want more than that. We play our guys, nothing is set in stone yet, that’s the way we’re going to approach it.”
Stevens has been encouraged by Kemba Walker’s response to a gradually increased minutes load. The point guard’s tender left knee has responded well to his first three seeding round appearances. He sat out, by design, the second night of a back-to-back swing last Wednesday against Brooklyn, and came right back with 17 points in 23 minutes against the Raptors, including an explosive 14-point third quarter.
Had the game been close, Walker could have played more. And his playing time will increase once again this week.
“He looks good health-wise – I think everybody agrees with that,” said Stevens. “He will continue to be ramped up for two more games.
“We’ll try to stick to a script where he plays between 30 and 32 minutes the next couple of games,” he said. “That would be ideal. Injuries are always a part of this, knock on wood, but the most important thing we can do is continue to control what we can control, play good basketball, build on the things we’ve done well, learn from the things we haven’t, and get guys to feel great conditioning-wise and playing together-wise as we head into next week.”
Turning heads
Robert Williams has averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds and two blocks over the last two games, including a lob-boosted 11-for-12 from the floor.
But for Stevens and his staff, it’s the little things, like awareness and communication on defense, that may earn the second-year center a playoff role.
“He’s an end-of-second-year player,” Stevens said with a shrug. “He’s way more comfortable with what’s expected of him at both ends of the court – getting better in a bunch of the little things. He’s always been a great vertical threat, he’s playing very hard, doing a very good job in our coverages. It’s a matter of experience, and hard work. He’s done a lot of hard work. His attitude has also been very good. He didn’t play in any of the first three games, or not much, and that’s a huge part of it. He’s ready for when his number is called.”
In the process, Williams has given teammates a big target off of pick-and-rolls, and put that great pair of hands to use at the rim.
“I think when Rob is at his best, he’s screening and rolling to the rim, providing us with a threat for a lob at the rim,” said Gordon Hayward. “He’s just so bouncy and quick off the floor as well as being as tall and long as he is, so he definitely provides a rim threat for us. He’s also another big that can pass, and we can use that – whether it’s backdoors on the wing or just reading different things, he’s got a really good feel for the game. And then defensively too, protecting the rim, coming over from the weak side, giving us another rim protector.”
Pass present
As evidenced by the Toronto game, the Celtics can reverse and move the ball like few other teams. Hayward, who is generally the main facilitator in this scheme, benefited with an easy layup Friday night from Jaylen Brown’s three-quarters court bounce pass through the Raptors.
Jayson Tatum, too, is passing at a career rate.
For a team that can be prone to isolation stagnation, this kind of play will take them far.
“I think we’re all working on that as far as just making the right read, the right pass,” said Hayward. “It’s something I’ve done for a while, and some of it is just experience, but also just we have the guys too, so you don’t have to make a tremendous read.
“Sometimes the easiest one is the best one with our team,” he said. “It just gets the defense moving, it gets someone else a step. That’s all you need is a step to gain an advantage. So I think the more we move the ball, the more we make the right read, the right pass, the more open shots we’re going to get, the more open layups, the more open attacks, the more free throws, all that stuff. It’s just hard to defend us when we cut, move and pass.”
