The heart of the matter? It didn’t
The Celtics fell in a Garden yesterday, and it didn’t make a sound.
It didn’t matter.
Having already been locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, the result of the meeting with the lottery-bound Hawks was of no consequence, and that’s exactly how the Celts played it.
Or didn’t play it. Brad Stevens chose to keep starters Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier pinned to the pine in the fourth quarter, which was a major factor in Atlanta outscoring the remains of the active roster by 12 on the way to a 112-106 decision.
Had the Celtics not been a 54-win team, they would have been accused of tanking. But, as noted, there was nothing of substance at stake. It was more October than April.
With Kyrie Irving (knee), Gordon Hayward (ankle) and Daniel Theis (knee) shelved for the year, Marcus Smart (thumb) still weeks away, and Guerschon Yabusele (knee) unable to go yesterday, it was apparently not enough of a challenge against 23-57 Atlanta. Stevens gave Marcus Morris the day off to rest.
Then he managed the game as if it were a preplayoff scrimmage — which is really what it was.
With no chance to catch Toronto for first and no chance of slipping to third, it was …
“Weird,” said Stevens. “Yeah, I mean, it’s strange.
“But to be able to play those guys and get them reps and be able to do some of that stuff, you know, I wish Guerschon would have been available, because he would have been able to take advantage of that, as well. But obviously when you start looking down our bench with Morris and Guerschon out, we’re pretty thin and pretty small. So we needed to give those guys a chance to make plays, and I thought they did some good things, but obviously not enough to win the game.”
Shane Larkin — the season’s best surprise — is still clearly not all the way back from his fight with the flu. As the game was winding down and the Celts still had a chance, Larkin, in the midst of a 1-for-7 final quarter, stole the ball in the backcourt and went in for an uncontested layup. And missed. As the C’s quickly took a foul, Larkin stood on the baseline with shoulders slumped. He looked as exhausted as his previous shot.
Such was the day. Strange.
“You could say that,” said Brown. “We still could have won, but it was a little bit different in the sense that this thing’s over in two more games and we already had our playoff spot locked in. So it’s probably a good call by Brad.”
But if there’s something on the line, he and his starter pals are playing in the last period.
“Yeah,” Brown said, “and we’re definitely winning that game.
“But that’s a coach’s decision, a coach’s call. It’s understandable. We all get it.”
The goals, according to Stevens, were “getting the appropriate amount of minutes (for the regulars), but also then let those young guys play in the fourth. And they did a really good job at the start of the fourth, then they let their guard down a little bit defensively, got Atlanta back in the game, and then Atlanta made huge shots.”
Tatum, 8-for-12 from the floor and 19 points, watched. So did Horford with his 16 points. Rozier missed on a chance for a triple-double, ending with 10 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in 27 minutes.
“I mean, we kind of knew what the situation was going into the second half,” said the latter. “He (Stevens) let us rock out the third and then gave a lot of other guys an opportunity — get them out there, get them comfortable, let them get a little sweat going.
“He basically said that everybody was going to get an opportunity this half, and we kind of knew what that was.
“We were just over there trying to cheer them on to a victory.”
Evidently not well enough.
“I guess not,” said Rozier. “We came up short.”
To the concern of no one.