Robb: Brad Stevens keeps pushing the right buttons with these Celtics

Comebacks have become a pretty common theme for this Celtics team. Thursday’s 114-103 win over the Sixers marked the ninth time this year in 44 games the C’s have rallied from a deficit of 12 or more points for a victory. The seventh-straight win for Boston put them in a tie for best overall record with the Warriors, and also was the 200th career win for Brad Stevens as Celtics head coach.

For much of the first half of the season, Stevens has found a way to patch together these comebacks with an undermanned roster. He’s had to search through different combinations, dive deep into his bench and piece together the right groups on the right nights to give the Celtics a chance while learning on the fly what he has to work with in the wake of Gordon Hayward’s injury and a revamped roster.

Thursday’s win marked some more mastery by Stevens on that front, but it also was one of the first time this season that he had a full roster (minus Hayward) to work with. That luxury helped Stevens turn a 22-point deficit into a dominant win by the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Here’s a closer look at how Stevens put the Celtics in position to succeed after a sensational start by the Sixers: 

Pushing the right buttons

The Sixers opened the second quarter with a 21-4 run against a second unit without either Al Horford or Kyrie Irving on the floor. Stevens watched as Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier ran a stagnant offense as both guys rushed shots and turned the ball over repeatedly. T.J. McConnell and J.J. Redick caused problems against the pair with their shooting and penetration as well. With the Sixers opening up a massive double-digit lead, Stevens wasted no time pulling the plug on his reserve guards, even though they had propelled the Celtics to wins last week against the Cavs and Wolves. Instead, he turned to Shane Larkin at the eight-minute mark of the quarter in place of Smart. Rozier was pulled minutes later and the Celtics’ defense started to gain some footing.

Taking advantage of the schedule

With the Sixers holding a 22-point lead midway through the second quarter, Stevens saw a deficit that was reaching a dangerous level. Despite the fact he played Al Horford and Kyrie Irving for the entire first quarter, he brought back both players into the game after just a five-minute rest, far shorter than their normal breathers. Stevens has masterfully managed the minutes of both players all year (both average 32 minutes per game), but he also was flexible for Boston’s one game in 10 days. Stevens knew he could lean harder on his stars if the opportunity arose and that was certainly the case in the second quarter.

A passive Jayson Tatum sat as Irving and Horford helped a lineup of Larkin, Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis make serious inroads against what was a dominant Sixers squad for the first 18 minutes. Boston closed out the second quarter with a 17-3 run (started by that fivesome) that turned what was a 22-point lead into a far more manageable nine-point halftime deficit.

Giving his core a second chance

With the Celtics rolling well with Larkin in the closing minutes of the first half, I was very interested to see whether he would be one of the first subs off the bench in the backcourt for the second half as the Celtics continued to chip away at the Sixers lead. Instead, Stevens elected to give his usual reserves another opportunity after they watched the start of the C’s comeback from the sidelines. That choice paid immediate dividends for the head coach.

Smart and Rozier both played smarter basketball in the second half and worked their butts off on defense after a lackluster first half. The duo combined for 11 second-half points on 3-of-5 shooting, along with three steals, showing the kind of tenaciousness that kept Larkin in the game for most of the second quarter.

Elsewhere, an energized Tatum responded to his below normal 10 first-half minutes with some needed aggression in the third quarter. He took nine field goal attempts in the period (compared to just two in the first half), scoring 11 of his 16 points with an attacking mentality from the perimeter and in the paint.

Those three players, along with a healthy Marcus Morris, rode the team’s first-half momentum for nearly the entire second half and turned an impressive comeback into a blowout win for the C’s by the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. While the players deserve plenty of credit for executing, Stevens’ ability to manage a deep bench can’t be underrated as the Celtics repeatedly find a way dig themselves out of early holes in games. He pushed the right buttons early on Thursday and gave the Celtics a chance before the mountain got too large to handle.

The good news for Celtics fans now is that Stevens now knows what he has to work with. He knows what he’s getting from guys like Larkin, Theis or Semi Ojeleye on most nights. and he’s able to unleash those guys when needed, instead of having to experiment with different lineups.

The Celtics could certainly use upgrades at different spots on the roster (i.e. bench shooting), but Stevens has a roster now that has useful depth options at all positions, even without Hayward. With a normal schedule and a healthy group to work with, Stevens will continue to maximize everything he can get out of this group as he leads this team to a No. 1 seed in the East.