Stevens needs his road warriors
CELTICS NOTEBOOK
PHILADELPHIA — The Celtics last won a road game on March 28 in Utah, which even for them seems like an eternity.
Three first-round road losses in Milwaukee point to a need for a mental adjustment when the Celtics play Game 3 of their secondround series against Philadelphia today in the Wells Fargo Center.
“A very long time — wow, man,” Marcus Smart said after yesterday’s practice about the Celtics’ road drought. “It ain’t going to be easy here. You have a good, young team on the rise, and fans have had a lot of success in the sports industry here this year. They’re riding high.”
Just to make sure his own team wasn’t riding too high after winning Games 1 and 2 in the Garden against the Sixers, Celtics coach Brad Stevens poured cold water on his team’s collective ego during a video session.
“We looked at the film and it was a good win for us, but Brad humbled us when he came in,” said Jaylen Brown. “He said we didn’t really play well and he was right. We could have played a lot better. We didn’t set screens, let them push us out. We’ve gotta play a lot better in Game 3, because we can’t be down 20 points on their floor and hope to come back.”
The Celtics also need a reminder about their success on the road this season. Their 28 road wins were third best in the league, behind only Houston (31) and Golden State (29).
“Being together. We have to fight and stay together,” Brown said. “When a crowd gets loud and they go on their run, that’s the time we have to stay together. Still trust each other. At times, we got disconnected in Milwaukee, when the crowd got loud and we couldn’t really hear each other. The energy was crazy in the building, and Philly is going to be just like that. Have to stay connected.”
Indeed, considering the rekindled love affair between the Sixers and their fans, today’s atmosphere could exceed the intensity in Milwaukee.
“You’re not always going to be able to hear everything because you’re playing in loud environments,” Stevens said. “Same way at home. I saw our guys calling out coverages yesterday and our guys had no chance of hearing it. Ultimately it’s more about you build habits over the course of the season. You build habits in your preparation. You build a task-oriented mindset and you go out and do it.
“We’ve been a good road team all year,” he added, “but Game 3 (in Milwaukee) we did not show that at all, Game 4 we were much better, and Game 6 we were decent, but we’re going to have to play better than all of those combined tomorrow.”
Some risk, more reward
Brown admits he took a risk by playing on his sore hamstring in Game 2 against Philadelphia, and he was sore yesterday as a result. But he also plans to be on the floor in Game 3.
“They said it’s going to be uncomfortable, but it’s something you can’t reinjure, and you can’t prepare for playing playoff level intensity on it,” he said. “You can’t simulate that trying to get ready for a game. It’s about being safe and smart, and having a strategic plan, and we did that last night. We have another strategic plan coming up.”
Brown admits that he also lacks his usual level of explosiveness.
“Definitely. The first step and explosiveness is not all the way there, but it’s still something where I can still play,” he said. “But I definitely want to be myself when I’m playing. I don’t want to hurt the team. Just trying to get myself prepared, trusting what the medical staff is telling me, but at the same time I want to help as much as I can.”
At the first sign of trouble, Stevens will pull Brown off the floor.
“I listen to what the doctors and trainers say,” Stevens said. “They felt good about him playing, they said there will be some general soreness from playing. One of the things about it is there’s no tear. It’s a big part of this. We have to be smart about this, he has to be smart about this, he has to be open and honest about how he feels. But when he passes all the tests and is cleared by the docs, we feel good about him playing.”
Thumb’s up for splint
Since his return to action from right thumb surgery, Smart said he has worn “three or four” different splints in an attempt to get comfortable shooting and gripping the ball.
He thinks he finally has found the right model.
“It’s getting there. The splint is so much better. Cutting it and shaping it has helped so much,” he said. “Just try to make sure we can get it as perfect as we can.”