Puzzling choices prove costly for Celtics in loss to Pacers

Mixing and matching bench personnel was always going to be a necessity for the 2019-20 Boston Celtics. At least that was the case at the beginning of the season when Brad Stevens was trying to figure out what he has with a roster full of new faces. The head coach has masterfully navigated a host of injuries to Gordon Hayward and others over the first two months of the season while getting good looks at nearly every single player on the bench on a semi-regular basis in the process. He has succeeded more often than not in maximizing strengths in matchups up and down the roster with unique lineups.

We are getting at the point of the season now where a couple of things are becoming clear though.

1) The Celtics are very good, better than most of us (including Stevens) probably expected.

2) Some players on the Celtics’ bench aren’t deserving of regular playing time against good teams.

Each guy on the roster has had their moments, but there is a contingent of the bench that we should label as simply depth pieces. Going 10 or 11 deep into the bench isn’t necessarily a bad thing on some nights, but it is when you do it at the expense of your best lineups and potential wins.

A lot of things went wrong for the Celtics in the fourth quarter of a 122-117 loss to the Pacers on Wednesday night, such as losing the final frame by a staggering 38-23 margin. A lot of the issues the team faced were beyond Stevens’ control in the defeat. Marcus Smart (eye infection) was clearly missed. Some tough whistles over 48 minutes forced Jaylen Brown to foul out with a couple of minutes left to play. Hayward took a shot to the face that left him in the locker room for the final few minutes of regulation. The Pacers play very well at home (10-3) so by no means is this a bad loss on paper without all those guys in the mix late.

The problem for Boston is there were several things the Celtics could control in this game that went wrong in the final frame and ended up proving very costly in the defeat. The first decision that should be under the microscope? The starting fourth-quarter lineup.

The Jayson Tatum plus bench lineup has been successful for weeks now as Stevens has mapped out a consistent rotation to work through Hayward’s absence. Brad Wanamaker, Enes Kanter, and Semi Ojeleye have featured prominently with that group and the on-court numbers with that trio and Tatum have been very encouraging. There should be no complaints about that group being used together for a few minutes in either half as it was here.

The quibble I would have with Stevens’ lineup comes with the choice to go with Javonte Green as the fifth man in that group in a tough road game in the fourth quarter. I understand that Smart was out so there is a need to fill that void but going just eight deep into the bench for one half is entirely reasonable with the C’s personnel. Hayward got a lengthy rest (four minutes) at the end of the third quarter, so there was really no reason here to put Tatum out on an island as the sole reliable creator in this type of situation.

The results went as expected against a solid defense with a Pacers bench unit that was rolling all night long. Boston turned the ball over four times in three minutes at the beginning of the fourth quarter as Indy erased most of the C's 10-point lead with a quick 10-2 run before Stevens threw in the towel and called timeout.

Some of the turnovers were of the unforced variety (i.e. Tatum stepping out of bounds during the run) but it was evident that the third-year forward was trying to do too much throughout the three minutes. The spacing around him was clearly not good either, as seen on this drive (Tatum threw a bad pass).



As the second-best scorer in this unit, Brad Wanamaker also tried to force the issue a bit too much at times during what was a rollercoaster night for him. He made big plays late to help keep the C’s in the game after Brown fouled out, but clearly also felt a sense of urgency to do things himself with aggressive takes like this against set defenses with this offensively-challenged unit.



The biggest concern I have with this group though was Green. He has been a tremendous story this year and a great fill-in as injuries piled up early in the year and other guard options like Carsen Edwards struggled. However, there is a reason he started as the 15th man on this roster though and we saw a little bit of why in this game. Let’s start on the defensive end where he and Semi Ojeleye fail to box out, allowing an easy and-one chance by Doug McDermott in transition. This is just sloppy stuff from Green.



Offensively, he is easy to ignore as a shooter (30 percent from 3) which gums up spacing around Tatum. Edwards was supposed to be the guy that fills this role, but he’s not hitting enough shots and his size has made him a liability at times on D. The on/off numbers with Edwards (-13 net rating) and Green (-19.5 net rating) at this point have been really bad over 22 games, to the point that neither really should be playing in the fourth quarter of a game unless injuries arise or the game is in control. Neither was the case in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter on Wednesday night.

Green also made a costly miscue in the final minute of the game as he fouled Malcolm Brogdon (93 percent free throw shooter) immediately after the ball was inbounded with 17 seconds left in a one-point game. The C’s still had plenty of time to force the ball out of Brogdon's hand, but Green gave the foul immediately to arguably the best FT shooter in the NBA (15/15 FT) and that helped to ensure the C’s would have to go for a 3 in the closing seconds of the game (leading to a Walker airball) to tie things up.

With Brown, Smart and Hayward all unavailable for the final minute due to injuries/fouling out, going with Green in that spot is understandable over the other options on the bench. However, Green really wasn’t needed to come into the game cold midway through the second half in a tight game. Hayward is back now and while there is no doubt that Stevens wanted to manage his minutes a bit with a back-to-back looming, the head coach has the luxury now of keeping two of his four starting scorers on the floor at all times. He declined that option and it came back to bite him dearly in this one and that’s without second-guessing his decision to sit Walker during this run after scoring 39 points through three quarters (he had to rest at some point).

If nothing else, a game like this should serve as some extra encouragement to the front office to upgrade the bench wing depth spot ahead of the trade deadline. Another shooter that’s an upgrade from Green or Edwards is very valuable in this instance when an injury or two hits the C’s wing rotation.

For now, Stevens is probably best served to begin tightening things up again as he gets closer to having his full roster intact. It’s understandable this group didn’t get things done late in this one with three of its top six players sidelined for crunch time but Smart was the only guy unavailable at the start of the fourth quarter when a big lead was squandered. Green and Edwards are good stories, but they are also end-of-the-bench players on a very good team. That’s what the Celtics are right now. Giving them some run in the first half is understandable in spots when guys are out. Turning to them in big spots as 9th or 10th men in the fourth quarter is unnecessary when a tighter rotation is workable.

With every win looking like it will matter plenty as the season continues in the tight Eastern Conference, it’s time for Stevens to balance his rotation more when it matters most.