BOSTON – As the Boston Celtics’ training camp drew closer and closer to an end, the defense was clearly ahead of the game.
And when the regular season began, Boston’s defense continued to stand out for all the right reasons, as the Celtics have switched – literally – to what they’ve done in past seasons under fifth-year coach Brad Stevens.
Boston’s ability to seemingly switch at damn near every position, has been critical to the team’s ability to withstand an onslaught of injuries and yet still manage to keep up their winning ways.
“One of the things we noticed early on with our team was, that we had guys that could switch, play multiple positions. We have a lot of interchangeable parts when fully healthy,” Stevens said. “And we do a lot of late switching, so we try to take away the three-point line. It’s a big part of what we try to do.”
Stevens added, “I was surprised how advanced we were one or two weeks in, and defensively overall. We did a lot more switching than we have in the past, because we have a lot more length or positional versatility defensively.”
Here are five takeaways from Boston’s 97-94 win over Utah.
Boston Celtics
ROZIER CLUTCH FACTOR
His emergence this season has been a huge factor in the Celtics winning as much as they have, with Rozier elevating his play in just about every statistical category this season. But down the stretch, Rozier has been one of the team’s best players when it matters most when he’s in the starting lineup.
As a starter, Rozier is sixth in the NBA in “clutch” scoring with his most recent game against Utah serving as a reminder. In Boston’s win over the Jazz, Rozier had 13 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter.
BROWN’S RETURN
After missing six straight games while in the NBA’s concussion protocol program, Brown appears to have picked up right where he left off. He continues to expand his game in a multitude of ways, proving he’s more than just an athletic wing player. While he certainly made headlines with his game-winning 3-pointer at Utah, Brown had a strong game all night by mixing in drives to the basket, pull-up jumpers and post-ups that added up to a team-high 21 points.
STEVENS COACH OF THE YEAR CANDIDACY
Because Brad Stevens is, well, Brad Stevens, he’s always going to be in the conversation for Coach of the Year. But what he did during this four-game sweep out West may be just what puts him over the top for what would be his first NBA Coach of the Year award. We tend to reward coaches who do the most with the least. Missing five of your top seven players, on the road against a team that’s fighting for a playoff spot and is historically strong at home… it would be one thing if the Celtics did that every now and then. But they do this all the time, which is why it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Stevens doesn’t finish among the top-three vote-getters for the Coach of the Year award.
ROLLIN’ WITH ROLE PLAYERS
Injuries have left the Celtics no choice but to stick with a group of seldom-used role players who now find themselves in prominent roles and are being counted on to not just compete, but find ways to help the Celtics win games. Few would have envisioned the Celtics would be leaning on Semi Ojeleye, Abdel Nader and Shane Larkin to play key roles for them this late in the season. It says a lot about their ability to make the most of their opportunities to play.
JAYSON TATUM
The 20-year-old Tatum faced two of the best rookies in the NBA in Phoenix’s Josh Jackson and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell. Not only did Tatum play well in both games, but he also played a major role in Boston coming away with the victory in each game. And as good as he has been this season, the 6-foot-8 rookie is having his best month scoring (16.2 points) and assists (2.3) per game.
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