Depth Finally Comes Through for the Boston Celtics

The second unit finally came through with a game saving performance against the Pacers

With an injury plagued start too the season that has featured Marcus Smart, Kelly Olynyk, Jae Crowder and Al Horford all miss time due to injury, the Boston Celtics have had their depth exposed. After having a second unit that always seemed to give them an advantage in the past, the excessive youth and inexperience has made their second unit a liability more often than not, and has put a lot more strain on the depleted starting unit.

Then, on a night where Isaiah Thomas got nothing started until late in the fourth quarter, the bench finally stepped up and secured a victory with a starting unit that had no business winning. Add on that the main contibuot off the bench was James Young, and this was truly a breakthrough game on multiple levels.

Consistency will never be a strong suit of the second unit. They have streaky players that are difficult to trust, but it is a great sign that in his first real minutes of the season, Young gave the Celtics that scoring spark that allowed them to win the game.

Young kept the Celtics in a strong position with a scoring flurry in the third quarter, finishing the game with 11 points on 5-6 shooting, with two steals and three rebounds to add onto it. A lot was said about a different mentality for Young this season. Clearly his confidence in on another level, and that kind of aggressiveness can lead to sustained success with the second unit. It is also those other things that are happening. Young is finding ways to contribute and finally played a game where there can be hope that he can be an NBA defender. Young’s scoring burst was easily the most important thing, but he is finding more ways to be a positive player, and that will be the key to sustained playing time.

Seeing that kind of game from Young does wonders for that second unit. They need that scoring and this will certainly earn Young more minutes, potentially threatening Gerald Green‘s role. The Celtics may not have that one scorer they can trust, but if they can get occasional games like this from Young or Green, then their second unit will return to a top strength once they are healthy.

Young was not the only bench player that helped carry the starters against the Pacers. Terry Rozier had arguably his best game of the season, scoring 11 points with six rebounds on a game high +14. Rozier has struggled to look fully comfortable. An adjustment period should have been expected, but it is about time that he he had great contributions on both ends.

Nov 11, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics guard Terry Rozier (12) shoots the ball over New York Knicks guard Justin Holiday (8) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics still need Rozier to develop as a distributor, but his aggressiveness on both ends is what made them fall in love with him. The Celtics know they can get a rebounding boost form Rozier, and that will be vital in any game. Add on that scoring, and these backup guards picked a great time to breakout with Thomas having one of his slowest games of the season.

Even with Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk on the starting unit, the Celtics finally saw their depth paying off, and that is a great sign for the future. It should come as no surprise that it was the back court that carried the second unit. Even at full strength, the Celtics have little front court depth. Their guards will need to carry the second unit all season long, and if these young players can continue to build on last night’s performance, then they could grow into the kind of deadly second unit that Stevens has had at his disposal the past two seasons.

It has become clear that Stevens is still experimenting with that second unit. Young is getting minutes over Green for the first time of the season, and Jordan Mickey did not see the court, despite their great lack of interior defense. We saw this last season with both R.J Hunter and Rozier rotating roles to start out the season, and this kind of inconsistent rotation will continue until they can settle down completely, and that usually does not happen until around the All Star break.

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The Celtics have been spending much of this season making up for their second unit on both ends of the court, and in a game that would have otherwise been lost, the Celtics can start to feel a bit more comfortable with their depth. They cannot expect it on a nightly basis, but the Celtics have at least one instance where their depth was a strength, and that will continue to get better throughout the season for such a young and injured team.

The second unit should also have a natural progression throughout the season. Other than Smart and Olynyk (who remain with the starters with Crowder and Horfrod sidelined) the Celtics do not have a single defined and consistent role on the second unit. The starting unit has the most stability in the Stevens era, but that second unit is the youngest it has ever been and will require the most time to settle into a comfortable rotation.

The Celtics came into this season committing to Rozier’s role, and he finally showed the fans why the team has had so much faith in him. He still has a lot of work to do, but his comfort level and effectiveness in his role has no where to go but up, and things will get even easier once they are at full strength and he gets the help he needs around him to be most effective running the offense.

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For Young, he needs to prove that he deserves to have an extended role. He has been at the bottom of the rotation for much of this season, but what he did last game has earned him that extra playing time. That being said, Young cannot take anything for granted. As quickly as he jumped out in that third quarter, he could just as easily disappear behind Green in the rotation again.