5 thoughts on a bounceback Celtics win over the Grizzlies

A mixture of thoughts and analysis after the Celtics bounced back with a 102-93 win over the Grizzlies on Saturday. 

1. Did Brad Stevens stumble upon an answer to his bench woes? With Marcus Morris out and the all-bench unit sputtering with either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown in recent weeks as the sole starter in that unit, Stevens elected to get a little bit more creative with his rotations on Saturday night. He gave Tatum a rest very early in the third quarter for Marcus Smart, and rested Al Horford as well midway through the frame. That staggering enabled Stevens to roll out both starters with a intriguing mix of bench players at the start of the fourth quarter for a lineup of Larkin/Rozier/Tatum/Horford/Theis in a one-point game. It was an intriguing blend of size and shooting and the combination ended up winning the Celtics the game. That unit took over with a 16-0 run over the first six minutes of the quarter, building a 87-72 lead that the C’s eventually rode to the road win.

Marc Gasol was resting for the first three minutes of the run, but the success of this unit is something to watch given the fact that it was the first time they played together all year. Daniel Theis and Horford served as mobile bigs defending the paint well and they also cleaned up the glass. Shane Larkin was solid as a defender at the point of attack. Tatum got aggressive with his shot (19 points on the night), while Horford created with his passing for the rookie and Terry Rozier. Stevens has been searching awhile for a bench unit that works without Morris and he may have found one here.

2. Jayson Tatum bounces back from a rough week: The 19-year-old has been one of the most consistent Celtics on the roster during his rookie season, but that changed a bit this week when he delivered a couple of duds against the Bulls and Jazz. The No. 3 overall pick was up to his old tricks on Saturday night though, playing one of his best games of his career on a night the C’s needed it after blowing a 21-point lead in the first quarter. Tatum was efficient with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting but he was also aggressive with his shot, doing more than serving as a spot up shooter. He attacked the paint constantly (missing a few easy layups) and pulled up off the dribble on multiple occasions for jump shots. They were the type of plays this team is going to need to keep pace with the NBA’s elite teams at the top of the standings.

3. The Celtics did a nice job on Marc Gasol outside of one quarter: The Celtics forgot to guard the big man in the third quarter (21 of his game-high 30 points came in the frame), but the necessary adjustments were made in the fourth quarter (two points on 0-of-2 shooting) to quiet the seven-footer.  Horford and Aron Baynes both did well to deny the veteran center any real space in the ball while communication and coverage breakdowns that were prevalent throughout the third quarter disappeared. The Celtics honed in defensively against the star of a bad offensive team and made sure he didn’t beat them. Credit goes to some nice tweaking to the coverages by Brad Stevens and good execution by the players.

4. Tyreke Evans would be an intriguing fit as a Celtic: The 28-year-old guard is having a tremendous resurgence in Memphis after an injury plagued last two seasons in New Orleans. He scored 25 points and dished out five assists in this loss and is averaging over 18 points per game this year with a career-high 41 percent shooting mark from 3-point range. Those types of numbers are particularly impressive given how bad his offneisve supporting cast has been in Memphis for much of the year with injuries. His $3.2 million contract expires after this year and it’s doubtful the Grizzlies will be able to afford to bring him back with the numbers he’s putting up. As a sparkplug off the bench with size (6-foot-6), Evans could be a nice fit in Boston as a rental. The guess here is the Grizzlies will be holding out for a late first round pick for the veteran scorer (and maybe a young piece too). Would Danny Ainge bite on that kind of offer? The guess here is no, but I’d jump on Evans if the asking price comes down.

5. The Celtics responded to Brad Stevens’ challenge from Friday night: The head coach doesn’t call out his team much, but this was a gut check performance for this group after Stevens put them on notice following the Jazz loss. They were tired, they were on the road, they blew a 21-point lead early and they didn’t fold. The effort was there on both ends all of the night, they won the rebounding battle (42-38) and they overcame some communication issues in the third quarter to lock down defensively in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t pretty at times (the middle two quarters were ugly), but a win was all that mattered tonight at the end of a five games in seven nights stretch. Theis played well through a broken nose (five points in 11 minutes). Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and Baynes all stepped up with double-digit scoring nights. Everyone did their job and it was enough to get the C’s back on track.