When the Celtics reached the NBA Finals final June, their largest weak point failed them. With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fatigued from an extended, grueling playoff run, the C’s bench couldn’t choose them up and it finally price them in opposition to a deep Warriors squad.
Improving the Celtics’ depth grew to become a focus of Brad Stevens’ offseason, however by the opening month of the season, it’s secure to imagine nobody anticipated it to be this significantly better.
The Celtics’ depth has proven itself in several methods early this season, however Wednesday evening was their most spectacular show but.
On their bench in Atlanta, the Celtics had practically a beginning 5 sitting in road garments. Malcolm Brogdon missed his fourth consecutive sport, Marcus Smart was out with a minor harm and Rob Williams and Danilo Gallinari – each recovering from their respective accidents – made the journey. On the courtroom, Tatum and Brown have been removed from their finest. None of it mattered because the Celtics cruised to their eighth consecutive win, a 126-101 victory over the Hawks.
“A credit to the guys for their humility, to step up when people aren’t playing and for when it’s not their turn, to be ready for when it is,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla instructed reporters in Atlanta. “Our depth allows us to play a lot of different ways, guys have fun doing it and they work hard together and we have to fight to keep it that way. It’s all about the guys and their ability to adapt and adjust and find different ways to play hard and play together.”
How scary will this crew be when it’s totally wholesome?
Tatum completed with simply 19 factors on 6-for-19 taking pictures – his worst offensive efficiency of the season – and Brown performed solely 22 minutes on account of foul bother. But the Celtics are making a behavior out of discovering methods to win. And up and down the roster, practically everybody had a bit of the pie.
Derrick White stepped in admirably within the absence of Smart and Brogdon and repeatedly made the correct play, ending with 16 factors and 10 assists as he thrived in a distributing position.
The Celtics’ 3-point taking pictures continued to gas their league-leading offense, and their 21-for-46 efficiency was carried by their position gamers. Payton Pritchard had 14 factors on 4 3-pointers – together with a 30-footer to beat the halftime buzzer – Sam Hauser had 15 factors on 5 triples and Grant Williams added 18 behind 4 3-pointers.
Even Luke Kornet was a big contributor, including 14 factors on excellent 7-for-7 taking pictures whereas including 4 blocks.
“We got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things,” White mentioned on NBC Sports Boston. “That’s just a credit to the depth that we have. Every person who goes out there, we think can contribute and do things.”
“Every time they come in, I feel like they just change the game,” White added of the Celtics’ bench. “Energy, effort, playing the right way. We’re going to lean on them a lot this season and they were big for us tonight.”
The Celtics scored 44 bench factors and shot 32-for-52 from the sector exterior of Tatum and Brown. They made it look simpler than it ought to have on the highway in opposition to a gifted Hawks crew that was purported to pose as one thing of a measuring stick. Instead, with out three of their finest gamers, the Celtics made one other assertion of why they’re the very best crew within the NBA by the primary month.
“It shows that we have a really good team and we’re really deep,” Hauser instructed reporters in Atlanta. “We’ve got a lot of guys coming off the bench who can really play, and even some guys who don’t get as many minutes, when they do have the opportunity, they’re ready for it.”
The C’s confirmed, too, that they will win when Tatum and Brown aren’t massive components. The two mixed for 41 factors, however an enormous chunk got here within the fourth quarter when the sport was out of attain.
Brown picked up his fourth foul early within the third quarter shortly after the Hawks fought again to make it a four-point sport. Brown sat the remainder of the third quarter because the Celtics prolonged their result in as giant as 20 and sealed the sport. Their two stars – particularly Tatum, who completed with eight assists – had no bother deferring to their teammates, who as soon as once more proved they will step up when wanted.
“It says a lot about them, that they can trust their teammates and make the right play when it’s not going their way, says a lot about them to keep their confidence and it says a lot about our depth, with the ability to step up,” Mazzulla mentioned. “That’s, to me, is what a team is. We have certain guys that we expect to do things every night. When it’s not them, they have to be ready to trust others around them and I think the guys are doing that.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com