Race for top spot not lost on players
Back in the trainer’s room, cheers could be heard, occasional outbursts from players watching Miami’s overtime win against Cleveland last night.
So don’t believe it when the Celtics say they don’t care about seedings. The Heat’s win, combined with the C’s 114-105 win against Brooklyn, not only gave the Green a one-game lead on Cleveland for the top seed in the Eastern Conference, it sets up a chance to secure the top position if the Celts can beat Milwaukee in the regular-season finale tomorrow.
Brad Stevens, who generally tries to downplay these things, was bemused by mention of the Atlantic Division title the Celtics won last night, their first since the 2011-12 season when they lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
“I don’t even know what divisions are for anymore other than tiebreakers and playoff scenarios like last year,” the Celtics coach said. “It’s not something that we necessarily set as a concrete goal, but Toronto is a heck of a team, and to even be at a level where throughout an 82-game season . . . we are at the top of that division, I guess it means something. It’s not something we’ve talked about, and I guess in Boston you only talk about one goal.”
Judging by that noise from the trainer’s room, though, there’s a lot of romance behind this late-season chase for the top seed.
“Me, I thought about it a lot,” Isaiah Thomas said. “I think it’s pretty cool to be the No. 1 seed, and hopefully we can finish the season that way. It says a lot about this group. I don’t think anybody thought we’d be in this position, so it’s a nice feeling.”
Even the division title held meaning for the point guard.
“I’ve never won one, so yeah. All these things that we’re doing this year, it means a lot to me,” he said. “We’ve been trying to finish the season (as) the No. 1 seed, that means a lot to me, personally. Hopefully we can get that.”
Avery Bradley’s recent bout with gastroenteritis took a toll on the guard, but last night’s game (18 points, 7-of-10 shooting, three 3-pointers) showed he finally has recovered from the debilitating experience. Bradley missed four games because of the illness and spent a night and most of the next day in the hospital hooked up to an IV unit earlier this month.
“I’m feeling a lot better,” he said. “My job is to continue getting into the gym, keep getting shots up, keep hydrated, stay in the weight room so I’m prepared for the playoffs.” The East still is jumbled, with Miami, Chicago and Indiana within one game of each other while fighting for the last two spots.
Preparation for the Celtics can be chaotic because of the possibilities, though like the past two years, Stevens has doled out specific team scouting assignments to his assistant coaches.
“We divvy up scouting assignments all the way throughout the year,” he said. “Unless a staff member is assigned to Milwaukee in some capacity — because we have three different people working on each team — then the rest of those guys can get a head start on potential opponents that may have been something they’ve been working on all year. So we’ve talked about that and making sure that we’re on top of what we can be on top of, and at the same time not wasting energy because I think the most important thing is to focus on this game and to focus on our team.
“(Preparation has) been very similar. The bottom line is I feel really good about the way we prepare things. Our players are good about preparing. And one thing that I’ve learned is . . . obviously there will be some tremendous individual performances and maybe some bad matchups, but at the end of the day, if you run back and set your defense and make it as tough to score on you as possible, and you rebound the ball and you don’t turn it over, you give yourself a shot. So ultimately, you have to keep that focus on playing good in that way.”
Stevens has begun shortening his rotation, meaning time for players like Jonas Jerebko will be matchup-based. Jerebko’s role actually expanded in last spring’s first-round loss to Atlanta in the wake of injuries to Bradley and Jae Crowder.
“I think he’ll be a factor. We need him to be ready to be a factor,” Stevens said of Jerebko. “No question. Last year we had to go small, and we were really struggling to keep up with them in a lot of ways. When we did, it gave us a chance in a couple of games. But it depends on who you play and how they play and what’s successful against them. But the good news is we’ve had a lot of guys contribute recently, let alone throughout the year, we could lean on when that time comes.”