Robb: It's time to stick with Marcus Smart in starting five

Brad Stevens is one of the best coaches in the NBA, but one area in which he has run into trouble at times during his career is waiting too long to make a lineup adjustment.

It haunted him early in his postseason Celtic career when he stuck with starting lineups too long that didn’t have a chance in matchups against the Cavs and Hawks. He improved in this department a ton last postseason with more proactive changes (i.e. Semi Ojeleye starting against the Bucks in the first round) but that proactive mindset didn’t carry over to the first month of the season.

That’s very understandable to a degree. Patience would be needed to see how Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward re-integrated into the starting five and the case can be made for giving that group a very long rope as both tried to get comfortable on the court after such a lengthy absence. Irving did so quickly while Hayward remains a work in progress. One thing that was evident after 10 games was that the starting five just wasn't clicking, at least from an offensive standpoint.

Ultimately, Stevens addressed the issue last week by moving Hayward last week but that adjustment did not solve some of the core issues within the first unit: Defensive urgency and appropriate shot distribution. The case was made here at BSJ that Marcus Smart was the piece that best combated those issues, yet Stevens has always valued Smart as jack-of-all-trades weapon off the bench. His versatility has always been crucial with that group but Smart's presence was needed more with the starters, in my mind.

That leads us to Monday night in New Orleans, where an injury to Jaylen Brown (sore tailbone) created an opening at shooting guard. Gordon Hayward was an option to take that spot but his mobility makes him a liability against the Pelicans’ speedier starting guards. The same goes for Semi Ojeleye.

Ultimately, Stevens gave in and started Smart next to Irving for the first time in 21 games. The Celtics responded with arguably their most complete 48-minute effort of the year in a 124-107 victory over the Pelicans, setting the stage for a lineup "controversy."

“Marcus (Smart) and (Aron) Baynes, they bring such a level of grit to our group,” Stevens said. “I wanted to see what that looked like with Marcus in the starting lineup.”

The net results were promising on both ends of the floor for the Celtics. Defensively, the Celtics held the Pelicans’ high-powered offensive attack to just 107 points per 100 possessions, seven below their season average at home. Boston forced a season-high 22 turnovers, including eight from point guard Jrue Holiday, the matchup Smart spent most of his night on.

That type of impact didn’t go unnoticed by Kyrie Irving.

“The (starting) unit that we had out there today, we really had that mindset going that we wanted to start off the game and have a defensive presence,” Irving told reporters after scoring a team-high 26 points. “Marcus on the ball, he took some of the pressure off of me, of being off the ball as well, offensively and defensively. When my time was on Jrue Holiday, I was able to do the right things, but Marcus was really taking that responsibility and that’s a role that he particularly plays for our team and does really well.”

Smart isn’t going to be able to handle every defensive matchup. He struggles with speedy point guards, as we saw over the last week with Kemba Walker and JJ Barea. However, his discipline and presence at the point of attack is far superior to any other guard on this roster right now and that was the recipe needed to prevent the Pelicans from carving up the C’s pick-and-roll defense with the Holiday/Anthony Davis combo.

For the first time in weeks against a playoff-type team, the C’s did not fall into a big hole in the first half. Instead, they led from wire-to-wire, turning their good defense into easy offense.

“Marcus is a tough player. He’s definitely a tone-setter; we all know that,” said Marcus Morris. “He’s playing the right way. He’s a guy that brings that energy we need at the beginning of the game.”

The positives with Smart didn’t just come on the defensive end though with the starting lineup. As another option as a primary ballhandler with a pass-first mentality (his shots per 36 minutes are at a career-low), Smart is in a position to help get the ball to the right people in the starting five and that was evident throughout Monday night. He had just 8 points and 5 assists in a team-high 40 minutes but the rest of the starting five around him combined for 85 points, with terrific shooting nights for 3-point range (13-of-25).

“On the offensive end, it takes some pressure off of me, being able to play off the ball sometimes,” Irving said of playing with Smart. “My energy can get depleted coming up and down and directing the ball every single time. Having Marcus in there gave me that outlet to be able to get off the ball. We did pretty well with the unit we started tonight with and never looked back.”

Smart’s positive impact on the offense isn’t just a one-night phenomenon either. As I wrote last week, the Celtics’ offense and defense have been better all year with Smart on the floor, a trend that has been in place since last year.

A closer look at the offensive pairings in the backcourt show that a Brown/Irving combo has a 103 offensive rating. Smart and Irving? 111 offensive rating, seven points above the team’s season mark. The numbers were similarly high in 2017-18 as well. Those figures aren’t news to Irving.

“When he’s playing with me, we play pretty well together and the 1 and 2 spots,” Irving said. “Defensively and on offense, I feel like he brings our numbers up and I’m appreciative of that.”

Still, despite these numbers and Monday’s potential breakthrough, Stevens maintained after the game that his quest to find the right starting five remains a work in progress.

“We won’t be settled on a starting lineup. .. until forever,” he said.

To some degree, Stevens is right on that front. Marcus Morris (18 points, 10 rebounds) isn’t the best choice to start in the frontcourt every night since Baynes matches up better with some true centers and can take some pressure off Al Horford. I’d expect that spot to remain a rotation for the foreseeable future, depending on the matchup.

However, the tenor of the Celtics locker room on Monday night made it clear that they found something they liked in the backcourt. It may have taken Stevens a little longer than needed to get Smart in with that group but the important thing is he did it. It may not be the answer for the C’s all year long but it gives them a look to build off of for now and that’s crucial for a team in search of a spark after a .500 start.

Jaylen Brown can and will still be a crucial contributor on this team, even if he’s coming off the bench. Moving Smart into the starting five lets Hayward become a defacto point guard with that unit and that should be beneficial for him and the team as well as he continues his recovery.

While secondary roles and egos need to be considered, the more important thing for Stevens right now is figuring out an identity for this team and getting them winning games again. The time for babying guys is over. Brown or Hayward could move back into the starting five later in the year but that’s a role they are going to have to earn at this stage of the year. Neither has played well enough to this point to make a stink about losing their spots.

Smart has his flaws but he makes life easier for everyone in that starting five by doing the dirty work on both ends of the floor. After sacrificing for the team last year, he deserves a chance at some extended run with Irving, since it got everyone else back to doing what they do best.

“It felt good tonight to win like that. That’s who we are,” Irving said.

With no game until Friday, Stevens will have three days to think about what comes next for his starting group. After game 21 though, he may have finally found the right fit.