Celts brace for wild stretch run
No room for error in the East
As a sign of last summer’s bubble trend repeating itself, it appears the team that catches fire last will reap the biggest rewards.
Heading into Sunday’s games, six of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference were on winning streaks of three games or more, including four each by Philadelphia, Brooklyn and Atlanta.
The Celtics went into Sunday’s game in Houston off a loss to the Nets, though they had run off four straight wins prior to the All-Star break.
The stretch run promises to be, well, wild.
“You’re going to have your moments where you can string a few together, and you’re going to have your moments where you know you’re going to have to navigate losing a couple,” said Brad Stevens. “That’s just the way it goes often. I think the more you can be resilient… the more you can focus on staying in the moment, playing that game in hand without anything else affecting your focus on that game is the most important thing.
“I think we have 35 games left. It feels in a lot of ways like this season is longer than a normal season just because of some of the stuff we’ve talked about before but the reality is it’s not and that margin for error decreases with every game that passes by,” said the Celtics coach.
“It’s one of the things we’ve talked about a lot. Every game is worth one. To say that the Brooklyn game is more important than the Houston game, more important than Utah or whatever, right now they’re all worth one. We’ve got to get as many of those as we can to have a chance to a) make the playoffs and b) be a competitive team when you get there.”
Nesmith odd man out in rotation
After a fruitful stretch prior to the all-star break, Aaron Nesmith found himself back on the bench Friday night in Brooklyn.
Though Stevens has said he’s still looking for separation among his reserves, he’s also starting to shorten his rotation with Marcus Smart back on the floor. Players like the rookie guard will continue to experience fluctuating playing time.
“I just shortened it. I mean, when we came back from that trip, we were 15-17 and we talked about being at home,” Stevens said of when Nesmith’s role increased. “I thought (Jeff) Teague had played really well in that Atlanta game when he had a chance to, but it was more about shortening it and trying to be the best that we can be.
“I thought (Nesmith) did a lot of good things and has come along well. But I think one of the things, when you’ve got Payton (Pritchard) out there with that second group, he’s a first-year player, Aaron I thought again did good things, but rotating them together as we get more fully healthy is just more difficult. But he’ll get his opportunities, he’ll play.”
C’s D up
There’s little doubt that with an increased leaguewide proficiency shooting the ball — especially from downtown — that it’s more difficult than ever to defend teams, though that may also be an unfair question for the Celtics two days after getting sunk by old friend Kyrie
Irving.
“I think every year the 3-point line and the depth of shooting beyond the 3-point line that you have to get out and defend because they are efficient shots for some of these guys from 28 feet makes it extremely difficult to take away one of the most efficient shots in the game,” said Stevens. “And then when you overcommit to that, then it’s hard to not foul and then it’s hard to stop people from getting to the rim.
“We’ve gone back to training camp defensive drills where you’re impacting the ball, you’re moving as the ball moves, you’re doing things you haven’t had a chance to do in a few months since this crazy season started. So I think that can certainly play a role. I think, and l don’t want to minimize our defense thus far because I’m not pleased with where it is, but I do think that the teams that are playing the best defense as the season winds down will have a leg up, and I do think that it is about keeping on that end of the floor and feeling really good about your ability to get stops.”