On night of his 250th win, Brad Stevens tweaks his way to victory

The Celtics second unit did not make things easy on Brad Stevens Monday night. Actually, you could replace Monday night with this season and that sentence would probably work. What was supposed to be one of the biggest strengths on Boston’s roster has been inconsistent for much of the year, and they seemed poised to put a C’s win in jeopardy yet again against a mediocre but feisty Heat squad.

After the reserves blew much of a 12-point lead in the first half, they were poised to do so again midway through the third quarter, the usual time when Stevens (and most coaches) bring in the first wave of subs. Boston’s starters had rebuilt much of that early lead with a 17-6 run to break open a tie game at halftime, but the keys were going to be handed to a struggling Gordon Hayward and company in short order, at least that’s what Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra likely believed when he called timeout with six minutes remaining.

To try to get back into the game after the timeout, Spoelstra turned to a 2-3 zone, a look that Miami has leaned on a lot throughout the year to allow them to get away with playing smaller lineups. Boston has had their struggles with this look throughout this season, largely due to a spacing issue with the bench unit. Hayward, Brown and Rozier had all been awful shooting the ball in the first half on Monday night and Spoelstra likely wanted to bait those guys into tough outside shots.

This strategy has worked in past games for the Heat in Boston (like last year), but Stevens was ready for it this time. He answered with a simple but almost perfect counter that won the Celtics the game on Monday night: He left his starters in the game to combat it.

It was a subtle shift, but an effective one. On a hot shooting night, the likes of Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum and company had a field day against the 2-3 look on their way to 72 percent shooting and 37 points in the frame. An 11-point Celtics lead quickly ballooned to 20 thanks to a 15-7 run by the time Stevens went to the second unit (with one minutes left in the frame), giving the hosts a big enough cushion to withstand another bench collapse in the first half of the fourth quarter.

The decision to stick with the starters far longer than usual won’t get many headlines in a win where Irving (26 points, 10 assists, 8 steals) and Al Horford (18 points, 12 rebounds) made major impacts but it was the perfect adjustment on a night that the 42-year-old tallied a milestone 250th win as a Celtics head coach in the middle of his sixth NBA season.

Amazingly, Stevens is currently the sixth-longest longest tenured head coach in the association, a sign of the constant turnover and turmoil that has gone through the majority of NBA franchises when it comes to head coaches. After a game where Stevens beat the second-longest tenured coach in the game, Erik Spoelstra shared a unique perspective on the milestone that the Celtics general had reached.

“We wish there were more places like Boston that have great ownership, management, and stability,” Spoelstra said, who has coached the Heat since 2009. “They know how tough this profession of coaching is. Then when you add in an extremely talented coach, like Brad [Stevens] there is a reason why they have banners and reasons why they have had success. You have to have continuity and consistency practically when times get tough. They have had tough times and they have been able to weather those and take the benefits. Brad is a tremendous coach and has been a great addition to the league bringing in a different background, a college background and has done a phenomenal job.”

This hasn’t been Stevens best coaching season to this point. This group has underachieved in the standings and some of the blame for that has to fall with him, as he was perhaps a bit too patient with potential adjustments to the lineup and rotation in the first month. However, he’s clearly been aware that this group wasn’t the one we all expected it to be since the preseason. It’s why he sounded the alarm during the opening days of the preseason. Getting this group to play together and play consistently well with their different agendas and goals was going to be harder than anyone thought.

Still, this group has a top-3 record in basketball (19-8) since their 10-10 start as Stevens has become more successful and aggressive with his tweaks as the season has worn on, finding the right fits for this team as a group. It started with the new-look starting five that he has stuck with from late November. He has gone deeper into games looking for a spark when necessary and has adjusted the rotation patterns to ease the burden on struggling players (The Celtics have won four straight since this move). Just like he has throughout his career in Boston, Stevens is trying innovative ways to maximize what he can out of this group and get them to win games while building for the big picture. When the Celtics have had their swoons in recent weeks, it’s been due to injuries, subpar play and decision making on the court, not the coaching.

“I think he’s done great, not just with this team but over the last five or six years just getting everything out of the groups that he’s had,” Irving said Monday night. “He came in here on a rebuilding situation and really put his mark on the teams he had, and ended up playing him them three times in the playoffs. So it’s great to see the success he’s had. Super proud of him to get this 250th win.”

The tweaking won’t stop with this group as the final three months approach and the C’s try to climb their way back into a better position in the top half of the East playoff bracket. If Hayward and the rest of the second unit does not get more consistent, it might not matter what adjustments Stevens makes, turning this year into a potential disappointment.

Still, a long view of the situation as a franchise though gives a better perspective of the terrific position they are in, no matter how this season pans out. Unlike other top teams in the East with unproven (Nick Nurse) or at times overmatched (Brett Brown) head coaches, the Celtics can feel confident for the next decade and beyond that they have the right man in place to lead Irving and whatever becomes of this core in what could be a tumultuous offseason from a roster construction standpoint.

Stevens currently stands at sixth place overall in top win totals for NBA coaches but, he’s nearly a third of the way towards Red Auerbach’s 795 wins already. It’s going to take him another 15 seasons or so, but the smart money has him getting to that number, thanks to the subtle adjustments he makes as we saw on Monday night.