CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Marcus Morris has made no secret about feeling as though the Boston Celtics have the best bench in the NBA.
While you should never get too high or too low based on a preseason game, there were a number of positive signs one can take away from Boston’s second unit, aka BWA – Bench With Attitude.
Marcus Morris and Terry Rozier will be the leaders of the group.
And to their credit, they set the tone for the bench with strong play offensively with Morris tallying 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting in 17 minutes, and Rozier delivering 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting along with four rebounds in 19 minutes.
Here’s a look at some other Stars, Studs and Duds from Boston’s 104-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.
STARS
Jaylen Brown: Brown was among the Celtics who came out aggressive, particularly when it came to taking pull-up 3’s. He led the Celtics with 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field. He also had four rebounds while playing 22 minutes.
Boston Celtics
Jeremy Lamb: Regular season or preseason, the former UConn star tends to play well against Boston. Friday was no exception as Lamb had 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting along with four rebounds and three assists.
STUDS
Kyrie Irving: Irving led the Celtics in minutes played (17) at the half, which made him starting the third quarter a bit unexpected. He wound up logging 22 minutes, tallying nine points and four rebounds along with three assists.
Kemba Walker: It wasn’t one of Walker’s better shooting nights (he was 3-for-10 shooting), but he made his presence felt in the 22 minutes he was on the floor. He had 12 points to go with three rebounds and an assist.
Gordon Hayward: The long-awaited return of Hayward to the floor didn’t produce big numbers statistically. More than anything else, Hayward moved well with and without the ball, showed no signs of discomfort with his left leg or ankle, and managed to get to the free throw line seven times – more than any player for either team.
Cody Zeller: He had a nice performance in limited minutes, scoring 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting along with six rebounds in just 16 minutes.
DUDS
Semi Ojeleye: You love the fact that he grabbed eight rebounds in the preseason opener but then you realize … he missed all eight of his field goal attempts with all but one of those misses coming from 3-point range. Ojeleye’s struggles from 3-point range in many ways mirrored the team which collectively shot a woeful 9-for-47 (19.1 percent) from 3-point range, including 1-for-20 in the second half.