The news rippled through the Celticsverse.
Josh Richardson was out versus the Miami Heat.
The collective decibel level in New England rose a notch as the murmurs of Celtics fans joined in unison.
Does this mean Aaron Nesmith will play?
The second-year energy drink disguised as a Celtics wing did, indeed, find his way off Boston’s bench for his first meaningful minutes in weeks. Fans had spent that time doing one hell of an impression of Jayson Tatum arguing with the refs as they questioned why Nesmith and his energy weren’t being used to save the listless C’s.
Tonight, they got to scream “I TOLD YOU SO” at their televisions.
“I see it every day,” Dennis Schröder said after Boston’s impressive win in Miami. “You know how you wake up, put in work, and try to get better at things. It translated today and it showed that he was well prepared and that he's ready whenever his name is called and it's huge for him.”
Nesmith put it more succinctly.
“I’m always prepared,” he said. “So whenever my name is called it’s not a shock to me just because I keep the same schedule every day. So whether I play or don’t play, I’m ready to play at all times.”
Between the injury to Richardson (a bruise, nothing serious) and the back-to-back, Nesmith and Romeo Langford were given more of an opportunity to make contributions. After an early-season stretch where Nesmith’s energy might have been a little too high, he came in and calmly contributed. Langford did the same.
“Romeo and Aaron were playing really well,” Ime Udoka said. “So we’re confident in all those guys, we know sometimes we try to stagger Jayson and Jaylen, but on nights like last night and tonight when they get in foul trouble, things of that nature, we feel confident putting in five guys led by Dennis and that crew there.”
Nesmith’s first bucket was a nice attacking layup, making Miami pay for overcommitting to his shot. After that, he buried a couple of 3-pointers, including one that gave Boston its first lead. All the while he was flying all over the court, causing so many bodies to hit the floor that I think the kid with the mop needed a sub at one point.
When Langford and Nesmith checked into the third quarter, Miami was in the middle of its flurry. Langford drew two free throws with a slick move to draw contact by Tyler Herro. Later, Nesmith assisted Langford on a 3-pointer in the midst of an 8-0 where Boston reasserted themselves. It was a gigantic 3 for Langford, who seemed blissfully unaware of the magnitude of Boston’s situation.
This is where Boston has broken in past games. This is where the pessimists were turning to their friends or tweeting “see? I knew they’d fold.” This was Romeo Langford of all people -- not Jaylen Brown, not Jayson Tatum -- getting the ball Brown swung, and which was swung twice more, facing a hard-charging closeout by Duncan Robinson, in Miami, in a game that was cut to 10.
Miss, and Miami gets the rebound, gets out in transition, and maybe they cut it to 7 or 8 with a minute left before the fourth quarter.
“I wasn't too worried,” he said of the shot that barely grazed the rim on the way through. “I didn't even know that was a big shot. I was just shooting, just playing the game and letting it come to me. It does feel good to see things go my way.”
Never change, Romeo.
Things went Boston’s way in Miami partly because Nesmith and Langford helped win a critical battle with Miami’s bench on a night where Tatum was even more off than usual this season. On a back-to-back, the Celtics were able to keep everyone except Marcus Smart under 30 minutes (and he missed it by only a few seconds). For once, things were comfortable at the end, and it was Boston’s youngest players who made it happen.
“We feel like every game is important, just to give the starters some help coming off the bench and some energy,” Langford said. “We knew it was the second night of a back-to-back so we had to bring it a little bit more because we knew from last game, guys were going to be a little tired. I felt we did that.”
They did that and more.
“At times we would have brought Jayson back in at a point, we went with the young guys who were rolling,” Udoka said. “They were playing so good defensively that we didn’t want to break the rhythm of that group. Jaylen came back in and did some things, but we really wanted to keep that core in there and reward them for how well they were playing.”
How long that reward continues might be another story, but a night like this might be enough to give the coaching staff some confidence in Nesmith and Langford to eat up some of the heavy minutes the Celtics stars have been accumulating. Those longer bench stints for Tatum and Brown in the early part of the game might help Boston close out the types of games they’ve been unable to thus far.
At the very least, fans got one night of vindication to go with a win that will let them unplug the panic button ... for now.