Superior depth keys eighth straight win
Without Smart and Brogdon, C's still roll
When the Celtics reached the NBA Finals last June, their biggest weakness failed them. With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fatigued from a long, grueling playoff run, the C’s bench couldn’t pick them up and it ultimately cost them against a deep Warriors squad.
Improving the Celtics’ depth became a focal point of Brad Stevens’ offseason, but through the opening month of the season, it’s safe to assume no one expected it to be this much better.
The Celtics’ depth has shown itself in different ways early this season, but Wednesday night was their most impressive display yet.
On their bench in Atlanta, the Celtics had nearly a starting five sitting in street clothes. Malcolm Brogdon missed his fourth consecutive game, Marcus Smart was out with a minor injury and Rob Williams and Danilo Gallinari — both recovering from their respective injuries — made the trip. On the court, Tatum and Brown were far from their best. None of it mattered as the Celtics cruised to their eighth consecutive win, a 126-101 victory over the Hawks.
“A credit to the guys for their humility, to step up when people aren’t playing and for when it’s not their turn, to be ready for when it is,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Atlanta. “Our depth allows us to play a lot of different ways, guys have fun doing it and they work hard together and we have to fight to keep it that way. It’s all about the guys and their ability to adapt and adjust and find different ways to play hard and play together.”
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Tatum finished with just 19 points on 6-for-19 shooting — his worst offensive performance of the season — and Brown played only 22 minutes due to foul trouble. But the Celtics are making a habit out of finding ways to win. And up and down the roster, nearly everyone had a piece of the pie.
Derrick White stepped in admirably in the absence of Smart and Brogdon and continuously made the right play, finishing with 16 points and 10 assists as he thrived in a distributing role.
The Celtics’ 3-point shooting continued to fuel their league-leading offense, and their 21-for-46 performance was carried by their role players. Payton Pritchard had 14 points on four 3-pointers — including a 30-footer to beat the halftime buzzer — Sam Hauser had 15 points on five triples and Grant Williams added 18 behind four 3-pointers.
Even Luke Kornet was a significant contributor, adding 14 points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting while adding four blocks.
“We got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things,” White said on NBC Sports Boston. “That’s just a credit to the depth that we have. Every person who goes out there, we think can contribute and do things.”
“Every time they come in, I feel like they just change the game,” White added of the Celtics’ bench. “Energy, effort, playing the right way. We’re going to lean on them a lot this season and they were big for us tonight.”
The Celtics scored 44 bench points and shot 32for-52 from the field outside of Tatum and Brown. They made it look easier than it should have on the road against a talented Hawks team that was supposed to pose as something of a measuring stick. Instead, without three of their best players, the Celtics made another statement of why they’re the best team in the NBA through the first month.
“It shows that we have a really good team and we’re really deep,” Hauser told reporters in Atlanta. “We’ve got a lot of guys coming off the bench who can really play, and even some guys who don’t get as many minutes, when they do have the opportunity, they’re ready for it.”
The C’s showed, too, that they can win when Tatum and Brown aren’t big factors. The two combined for 41 points, but a big chunk came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Brown picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter shortly after the Hawks fought back to make it a four-point game. Brown sat the rest of the third quarter as the Celtics extended their lead to as large as 20 and sealed the game. Their two stars — especially Tatum, who finished with eight assists — had no trouble deferring to their teammates, who once again proved they can step up when needed.
“It says a lot about them, that they can trust their teammates and make the right play when it’s not going their way, says a lot about them to keep their confidence and it says a lot about our depth, with the ability to step up,” Mazzulla said. “That’s, to me, is what a team is. We have certain guys that we expect to do things every night. When it’s not them, they have to be ready to trust others around them and I think the guys are doing that.”