The 82-game NBA schedule is a grind. And while, yes, these guys get to fly amazing charters and stay at five-star hotels to help ease that grind, the other side of it is having to play very physical basketball against some of the biggest and best athletes in the world.
Every once in a while, these guys need some time off, especially in the middle of six games in nine nights and two back-to-backs in a week. Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis never play in back-to-backs, Jrue Holiday’s slow start to the season probably warranted some rest, and Sam Hauser missed the game for personal reasons. All of that left the Celtics with no choice but to dip into their depth.
And it worked.
“We had four guys out, but that happens over the course of the season, and the guys got to be ready,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Our staff in Maine and in Boston does a great job keeping the locker room ready, and everybody that played over the last two games, I thought, played a part in the process of winning, and that's what you look for.”
The Celtics have had to search for a way in the past couple of games. With key guys out, it’s hard to know if the game will demand a superstar effort, a little something from everyone, or a little bit of both. Even for a coach who sees everyone all the time, it’s hard to know which guy will respond to the surprise call.
Drew Peterson admitted he didn’t expect to go in yesterday, but he responded well (despite Donovan Mitchell ruining a good story). Against Miami, the Celtics turned to Jordan Walsh in the starting lineup to try to throw Jaime Jaquez, Jr. off. He succeeded early on. Baylor Scheierman picked up some important minutes in the second quarter. Peterson played another 26.
The Celtics went 10-deep before the benches were emptied without a single negative +/- on the board.
“Obviously, outside perception is going to be a certain way each and every night. That’s just not the reality,” Jaylen Brown said. “We have a bunch of guys who are able to do a lot of different things. So being able to just get the best out of your group is what’s most important.”
And while one might think a player will get a heads up about potential minutes for a certain night, that's not how Mazzulla sees it. He takes the term “stay ready” seriously, and demands that his guys do exactly that.
“I just feel like, if you give a guy an idea if he's going to or not going to, it changes his preparation on a daily basis. So I want our guys to come into the arena every day thinking that their process is important towards winning, and they have to be ready to go,” he said. “They've got to treat every single day, every single game, as if they're going to impact winning. So by not telling them, it allows them to just treat every single day as if it's the most important day, and they do a great job of embracing that. But it's important because there's just a lot of unpredictability over the course of the season. You've got to be ready to go at any time. And if you're only ready to go because you know you're going to play, then that doesn't really help your process.”
You have to admit that he makes sense. Everyone has to come to the arena thinking he’s going to play 40 minutes that night. Players have to prepare as if they're starting because you never know if someone is going to have a family emergency, sprain an ankle in warmups, or think gas station sushi on the way to the game was a good idea.
The worst thing a player can be is unprepared for his moment. There's no greater way to lose the trust of the coaching staff than to get caught up in being an end-of-bench guy and losing focus the one time he gets a shot.
Peterson is proof. He played well against the Cavs and he got the same opportunity against Miami.
“It's tough to do as a professional,” Brown said. “Sometimes in January, back to back, sometimes guys can throughout the year check out. But when you're when you have guys that are hungry and come in and add to winning, it just shows where you're at as a team and where you're at as an organization. Think we develop guys really well, and tonight was an example that I thought we had some guys step in and make some good contributions.”
Walsh’s defense made him a +10 in 13 minutes. Scheierman didn’t hit a shot but he found Brown in the corner with a perfect laser for an assist and he got a steal, helping him to a +4. Peterson was more aggressive with his shot and hit two 3-pointers but he also cleared seven rebounds and made several hustle plays to keep plays alive.
We’ll forget about a game like this when the season is over, but the guys on the team won’t. Each night a new guy steps up gives them more confidence to trust them with the opportunity. It gives the team the luxury of extra days to heal an injury or a rest day for a key player without fear of everything falling apart. We know which seven or eight guys are going to win games for Boston on most nights, but the nights that players nine through 12 have to play bigger minutes still count in the standings.
“It's a journey, man. We need each and every guy. We need the whole chain to be working together,” Brown said. “Shout out to those guys being ready, and shout out to Joe for giving them those opportunities throughout the year to be able to showcase and add to winning … you never know when your name is gonna get called, you just gotta be ready. And those guys have been professionals, and that's what we need going forward.”
