Celtics bench unit keeps thriving with Greg Monroe on the sideline

On paper, the Memphis Grizzlies are the kind of opponent that should have been a good matchup for Greg Monroe. They are a struggling team that plays a lot hard-nosed, rebounding bigs on their front line in Marc Gasol, JaMychal Green and Deyonta Davis. The 27-year-old reserve big man was expected to get an opportunity to break out of his slump, but he never got a chance to see the floor on Monday. The stellar play of Daniel Theis and the remainder of the bench unit in the second quarter left Monroe watching as a spectator.

The combination of Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Semi Ojeleye, Marcus Morris and Theis outscored the Grizzlies by a 23-6 margin over a seven-minute stretch in the first half, turning what was a tight affair into a laugher before halftime. With the Celtics rolling, the window of opportunity for Monroe to contribute disappeared for at least one night.

“I went into the game with kind of two iterations of a game plan,” Brad Stevens explained after the 109-98 win. “And when they – when we went with (Daniel) Theis in that first stint, that team was – we were playing so well, that I just decided not to put him in in that first stint. And by the end, it’s ... you know, I had planned on playing him late, but I didn’t want to just throw him in there with a minute left, or whatever the case may be.”

Ultimately, Monroe tallied the DNP-CD, which was probably one of the first of his career for non-rest purposes.

“He’s still getting to know us,” Stevens admitted. “He’s still figuring this out. We probably threw him to the wolves early, and we’ll continue to play him. We have great confidence in him. It’s just a matter of I thought those other guys were playing so well in that first stint.”

It’s hard to blame Stevens for shifting his mindset with the 6-foot-11 big man, who signed a one-year, $5-million contract earlier this month. The Celtics have struggled mightily with him on the floor in the last five games (116 defensive rating, 15 points below their season average) and a recent offensive slump prevented him from making up for those shortcomings in his recent appearances.

That reality led Stevens to turn to the Smart/Rozier/Ojeleye/Morris/Theis unit for the second time in a game since the All-Star break. For the second-straight appearance, that group changed the game against the opposing second unit. They had a similar massive run against the Pistons on Friday night and didn’t play together Saturday due to Aron Baynes’ absence (which led Theis to play with the starters).

On Friday and Monday night, the non-Monroe bench mob posted an absurd 79.1 net rating in 12 minutes played together. It’s obviously a tiny sample size but that type of success has produced game-changing runs in both wins over the Pistons and Grizzlies.

“We got a lot of veteran guys,” Morris explained of the bench unit. “Theis is playing his ass off, so he’s really coming along. Having Marcus back is a blessing. I think we’re starting to gel at the right time.”

That specific lineup struggled in the first half of the season (-29.4 net rating over 29 minutes in just seven appearances) but it appears the same unit has found new life after the break. There are three elite defenders in the grouping (Smart, Ojeleye, Theis) which has worked well on paper. Morris is moving around much better than the first half of the year and that’s rounded out some stellar defense from the unit. Together, they are contesting well on the perimeter and creating a lot of tough looks for opponents.

“Defensively, again, we were okay for the majority of the night, but we were great in the second quarter,” Stevens explained. “The way we were flying around was fun to watch.”

Offensively, the strategy has started to change with the reserves as well. While Smart got up plenty of 3s during the second half garbage time, the point guard has captained better ball movement for the second unit since his return (17 assists on 23 field goals in the first half). Ojeleye (zero shot attempts over the last three games) has cut out his misfires as well. The team is seeking out better looks than just jump shots and leaning on more efficient scorers in Morris (13 points), Rozier (15 points) and Theis (12 points) to find them rather than low percentage shooters like Smart and Ojeleye.

It’s not the perfect grouping, but it’s a lot better and deeper than most opposing second units around the league. More importantly, it’s a unit that lacks a weak spot on the defensive end.

Keeping Monroe out of the fold ensures those weaknesses won’t appear, even though Stevens remains confident that he’ll be able to pick up Boston’s scheme in the coming weeks.

“I think he’s – he’s going to get more used to the way that we’re trying to play on the defensive end,” Stevens said. “I think our system is such that it accounts for individual strengths and he’s just going to have to figure out and kind of be able to see each step of what we’re trying to accomplish against different actions. But he’s really smart. He’s going to figure it out. Then it just becomes, you know, we’ve got good players that are there with him, and there will be nights that are his and nights that aren’t, and it’s just part of being part of a good team. But I appreciate his approach a great deal, and I think he’s really going to help us.”

With Baynes back healthy and Theis thriving, the clock is officially ticking on Monroe’s opportunities. He’s going to need others to falter to get himself back into the mix.