Terry Rozier Put in Spotlight with Kyrie Irving Injury
Terry Rozier will have to step up with Kyrie Irving joining Marcus Smart on the injury list
The injuries keep on coming for the Boston Celtics, because Kyrie Irving is going to be missing their game against the New York Knicks tonight. He will be joining Marcus Smart on the sideline, and even Shane Larkin is in question. That means there is a legitimate possibility that Terry Rozier will be the only active point guard on the team.
We knew that Rozier was going to be getting a big increase in his role with the Smart injury, but never to this extent. Rozier is going to be one of the primary instigators for the entire team, and not just the second unit.
Obviously, the offense is going to be completely different. Rozier is not the facilitator that Smart is and he is not the scorer who Irving is, so a lot of different things are going to be going on to try and get a functional offense.
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The Celtics know they should still be able to beat the Knicks when they are shorthanded, but it definitely makes it a lot more likely that they blow this game. The defense will have to be the best part of this team, because taking Irving off an already struggling offense could lead to an absolute disaster.
There is no longer any one thing the Celtics want Rozier to do, because his role is going to be too big for that. They need him to be scoring, because they need that from their top point guard, and they need him to facilitate, because they have no where near the offensive talent to win as individuals on that end.
We have seen Rozier get out of control in the past, so there is a chance that he will get overwhelmed in this position. That being said, he has been much better this season, and has a better understanding of what he needs to do. He is finding ways to have an impact when he is struggling, and that will be even more important the more time he spends on the court.
Particulairly with the starters, Rozier cannot hold them back in any ways. The starting unit offense should still be able to function well without Irving, but not if Rozier is getting in the way by taking out of control shots and turning the ball over.
A major key for Rozier will be finding a way to manufacture points if he is not able to shoot the ball well. He needs to get to the line and he needs to generate easy opportunities. That scoring, however, is going to matter more than ever before. The Celtics will need someone to step up and generate the points that are lost with Irving, and Rozier will be in a position to take on that role.
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It always needs to be a collective effort to replace these injuries, but when Rozier is left as the only point guard, you know he has to take on some of that responsibility. The Celtics can probably survive a poor game from Rozier, but that means pretty much everyone else on the team will have to step up, and you have not been able to expect that from this team yet this year.