Mickey ‘nervous' but settles in for Celtics in first NBA start

Share

ATLANTA – You don’t make it to the NBA without having a fairly high level of confidence in your ability to perform at a moment’s notice.
 
That doesn’t mean you won’t have some butterflies which was one of the many emotions Celtics forward Jordan Mickey was feeling leading up to his first NBA start on Wednesday in the Celtics’ 117-108 win over the Washington Wizards.
 
Mickey acknowledged being “a little nervous at first, but as the game went on I settled in and kind of got in a little groove.”
 
And the key to that was simply being on the floor for longer stints.
 
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Mickey had only appeared in nine games while averaging 7.5 minutes per outing.
 
He almost matched that average in the first quarter when he logged 6 minutes, 2 seconds of court time, starting in place of the injured Amir Johnson. 
 
As Mickey alluded to, he did not get off to the best of starts for Boston.
 
While the Celtics led 36-35 after the first, Mickey did not take a single shot and yet still managed to commit two turnovers.
 
But the second quarter was much better for Mickey who began it on the bench but came in for Kelly Olynyk with 9:19 to play in the half.
 
Thirty-six seconds later, Mickey got a nice feed from Marcus Smart, scored on the play while drawing a foul.
 
And two minutes later, he annihilated a shot attempt by Markieff Morris akin to a Kerri Walsh spike which was Mickey’s first blocked shot this season which got the TD Garden crowd out of their seats.
 
“That’s one of the things that got me here, blocking shots so I want to continue to do that,” Mickey said. “Any type of energy I can give my team, any kind of spark that’s something I want to do.”
 
And he just may get another shot at starting on Friday night against Atlanta.
 
Prior to the Washington game, Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Johnson’s ankle was still “pretty swollen,” adding that Johnson was doubtful to play against the Hawks.
 
Stevens said there wasn’t one specific thing that made him go with Mickey as a starter.
 
“The biggest thing is I’ve been around him for a year and a half,” Stevens said. “So, it’s not just practice. It’s watching him play, do individual workouts, it’s the way he goes through walk-throughs, his focus, his attention to detail.”
 
Mickey also makes a lot of sense because many of the things that Johnson provides, are also areas of strength for Jordan, too.
 
“When you start talking about how we play with the first group, he’s a good fit for that,” Stevens said.
 
And now that he has that first start out of the way, Mickey’s confident he can step back on the floor and hit the ground running.
 
“I’ll definitely feel more comfortable if he calls on me to start,” Mickey said. “I’ll be ready. Start, coming off the bench, I’m always ready.”
 

Contact Us