It’s time to Buck-le up
Reserves give C’s finale win
By the time the Celtics had dusted off last night’s season finale — a 110-97 win over Brooklyn for their 55th of the season — news of their first round playoff destination had finally drifted north.
Milwaukee, steamrolled in Philadelphia last night while the other potential opponents went on to other fates — Miami with an overtime win over Toronto, and Washington with a collapse in Orlando — will face the Celtics on either Saturday or Sunday in the Garden.
“This is what it’s all about. This is what the season has been about, getting to this point,” said Aron Baynes. “Now it’s time to lock in and focus on the task at hand. We’ve had some good matchups with them this year and it’s going to take a lot from us, but it’s going to be a fun one.”
The Celtics split their four-game season series with the Bucks, though their most recent experience was a 106-102 loss in the Bradley Center on April 3.
It was a typically jumbled night for the shorthanded Celts, with Kadeem Allen replacing the hobbled Terry Rozier in the starting lineup, and seemingly every available player in the lineup getting a chance at playing point guard.
But from what Marcus Morris can see, it’s nights like this one, despite the loss, that the C’s have shown an unusual resilience.
“I learned a lot about this team,” said Morris, who along with Al Horford was given last night off. “A lot of young guys stepped up to play a role. Everyone exceeded expectations.
“Boston is a great place and that’s one thing I’m really excited about. It was great to get traded here, just to see the historic building — being here among the greats. Love the opportunity to play for the Boston Celtics.”
Brad Stevens, his focus squarely on the postseason, once again gave the meat of his lineup a break last night.
Rozier, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown dressed, but were put under glass, only to be broken in case of emergency.
The result, against a Nets team that had been playing well, was a wide open, G-League paced game.
Baynes, feasting on the rarified garbage time air, broke out with a career-high 26-point performance, and added 14 rebounds. Most impressively and opportunistically, the Celtics center took 23 shots in 20 minutes.
Shane Larkin fell three assists shy of a triple double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Rookie Jonathan Gibson, perhaps in his last game as a Celtic, came off the bench with 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics’ destination and opponent, of course, had no connection to last night’s game — the most irrelevant of the season as Stevens and his staff could finally turn their attention to the issue of Milwaukee’s unique star, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“It’s definitely good. It’ll be fresh in our mind,” Baynes said of the C’s last game against the Bucks. “There will be a few things we can do differently, but at the end of the day, it’ll be about us and building from the defensive end. When we do that, we play well and look good.”
That, according to Morris, is the most important aspect of this team. The Celts have played well, their win total the most of the Brad Stevens era despite a season of disruptions to their lineup.
“That says a lot about this team. Lot of guys stepped up,” said Morris. “Semi Ojeleye has been resilient this entire year, going from not playing as much to getting a lot of minutes. Terry Rozier stepped up when Kyrie went down, and before Kyrie went down he was playing really well.
“We’ve had a great year, and the injuries have probably brought us closer together. We’re a tight knit group.”