Thoughts on the Rookies in Win over Portland

The Celtics’ were able to give their rookies valuable playing time during their blowout win over the Portland Trail Blazers

The Boston Celtics cruised to a 116-93 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers last night. After being outscored in the first quarter 33-30, Boston picked up the energy level for the rest of the game. The Celtics took a six point lead into half and then demolished the Blazers in the third quarter, outscoring them 30-12.

Blowouts are always fun to watch as teams play more loose and it becomes a game of crazy looking layups and wide open threes, a lot more scoring at the end of the game. However, blowouts are also games when players no one has ever heard of get to see minutes.

Everyone on Boston’s active roster saw action on Wednesday night, including the three rookies. Terry Rozier saw the most time on the court, accounting for six minutes, while Jordan Mickey and R.J. Hunter came in for the last four minutes of the game. By the time they came in, it was a free flowing game with no real rhythm. Although you could tell that Rozier was trying to make a point, despite it being garbage time.

In six minutes, Rozier scored two points, dished out an assist, and also recorded two steals. His defense was the most impressive thing on Wednesday night. Besides the fact he was guarding Brian Roberts, he was able to stay in front of him on defense. Rozier did have a problem getting over screens, but was able to recover nicely. Also, he had a nice steal where he came out of nowhere and poked it away from Maurice Harkless.

Offensively, Rozier only shot 1-7 but showed signs of potential. It was obvious that they were running plays specifically for Rozier, and as a result, he was able to get into the lane numerous of times. Rozier had a couple of layup opportunities and open shots but wasn’t able to convert. It was a bad shooting night, but not a bad offensive night for Terry Rozier.

The struggles for R.J. Hunter continued. On his first play, he got beat off the dribble and Jordan Mickey had to roll over to help. Hunter also didn’t move well and looked almost disinterested on the defensive end.

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On offense, he shot 0-3 and didn’t record any stats. He airballed a shot near the free-throw line, and threw up a wild floater that would’ve been ill-advised in non-garbage time minutes. He didn’t run the floor well last night, and looked tired despite not playing all night. Boston was trying to get him open looks, but he wasn’t able to create seperation.

Jordan Mickey was about as big of a non-factor as Hunter was, although he didn’t play as poorly. Mickey was not looked at on the offensive side, but did record a nice block during his four minutes. Mickey didn’t have any highlights; he became invisible when on the court.

Four and six minutes is way too little time to evaluate a rookie, especially when those minutes come in garbage time. Although, you can tell that Rozier is still in need of a more developed shot but has a lot of potential to be a solid point guard in the NBA.

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With the Celtics playing as well as they are, there’s not many minutes to go around for the young guys. However, minutes may open up late in games during blowouts, like this, and that’s when these rookies have to prove themselves. It may be garbage time to the starters and viewers, but Brad Stevens is looking and evaluating the development of these three players at the NBA level.

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