Jaylen Brown went through his second consecutive practice on Wednesday afternoon, setting the stage for a return to the lineup on Thursday night against the Knicks. While Brad Stevens wouldn't reveal his plans for the starting five until just before gametime in the nationally televised matchup, the third-year guard sees the writing on the wall after the team went 3-0 without him.
"I'm expecting it to keep going how it's been going," Brown said of the starting five for Thursday. "Smart and Morris have been playing extremely well, and our team is looking completely different in the first initial start of the game, so that's what I would expect. I haven't talked to Brad or anybody else, but whatever, however we can keep this going, playing the right way and continue to win, I'm 100 percent for it."
Brown pointed to veteran teammate Gordon Hayward as a model for himself when approaching the adjustment to his role.
"I believe in my ability, the coaching staff believes in my ability, so I think coming off the bench, I think people make it a bigger deal than what it really is," Brown said. "At the end of the day, it's basketball. Hayward came off the bench the other day and had 30 points. That's a mindset and that's a choice. Coming out and having the right mindset and coming out and playing basketball, letting it take care of itself."
While Brown has been far from the only reason why the C's original starting five has struggled, he has taken his fair share of punishment as the offense has excelled without him and his 39 percent shooting from the field over the past week. The absence has caused Brown to become a bit reflective of his role with this group and he sounds committed to playing to his strengths once again.
"Just getting back to what I do best," Brown said of his focus. "I'm not the best player, but I play with passion, I play with heart, I play with fire, I play with enthusiasm. Everyone makes mistakes, I make mistakes, but the reason why I've had success here in the last couple of years is because I continue to bring that energy. Continuing that and helping the team I think will be beneficial for us."
Stevens has done his best to protect the egos and confidence of his players while adjustments have been made and he continued to make that a priority on Wednesday.
"I think the bottom line is that that's one of the unfortunate parts, is that as a coach you have to make those decisions and you have to communicate them well and you have to think about how it will affect people and you have to be empathetic to that," Stevens said. "And the reality is it's not easy to bounce back and forth in and out of a lineup. ... I didn't play at this level but in my experience, I learned a heck of a lot more about myself when I was on the bench than I did when things were in the starting lineup. For me, it's one of the reasons I've de-emphasized starting as something everyone talks about, something that ultimately isn't as important as it's made out to be."
The good news from a team perspective is that while the adjustment is notable, everyone is on board with it publicly. Winning cures all in this instance and taking a cue from that mentality over the past week is helping the Celtics' odds of sustaining a longer winning streak heading into the Knicks matchup.
Defense remains a focus
While the Celtics still rank as the second-best defense in the NBA after 23 games, there has been plenty of slippage in that area during recent weeks while the offense has come back to the mean. That has caused that end of the floor to be an area of focus over the past few days for Stevens and his staff.
"Obviously, a lot of the questions that we've all talked about and answered involve the offensive end of the floor, but that's really a function of the first seven games being really poor," Stevens said. "Since then, we've been better and the last couple weeks we have been better, but we still have a long way to go on that end. Defensively, I think we really need to clean up some things that are just habits. I go game-to-game and I feel a little bit better about us, week-to-week, but we still have a long way to go."
Stevens pointed out being sharper with help assignments and coverage as an area that needs improvement. The Knicks punished the C's on that front with the pick-and-roll last time out. While Trey Burke (injured) won't be active on Thursday night, the focus remains in place for the rematch.
"I think that our identity is definitely forming a lot better than when we were playing against the Knicks that day," Kyrie Irving added. "Just in terms of our energy, our focus, our lineup as well. And it’s just going out there and competing, and just having fun doing so. Definitely a game that I definitely remember, so, as a competitor, definitely, I can’t wait to play."
C's enjoy visit to Children's Hospital
In what has become a fun yearly tradition for the Celtics franchise, a large chunk of the roster headed into Boston on Tuesday afternoon to sing Christmas carols, bring gifts and spend time with the kids at Boston Children's Hospital.
“It’s amazing," Irving said of the visit. "Obviously the trauma that they’ve been through, that they continue to go through, the amount of hours they’re in the ER or ICU -- hearing a lot about their stories — you're empathetic, you're compassionate, but more or less you’re just excited to bring a smile to their face and really give them just a brief moment of great joy and great energy. Just passing that along to them. They’re warriors so I think that they deserve that type of day from all of us."
"That’s one of my favorite days of the year," Stevens added. "It’s been six trips to Children;’s now over the holidays, and we always get a lot more out of it than the kids do. It’s a great day, an incredible place, the work they’re doing is amazing. They lifted our spirits probably more than we did theirs."
?? @KyrieIrving led the @Celtics in "Jingle Bells" as the team brought some holiday cheer to @BostonChildrens earlier today ? ? #ThisIsWhyWePlay pic.twitter.com/4ZwVaxHFhv
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) December 4, 2018