The Boston Celtics picked up their fifth straight win over the league-worst Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night behind strong performances by Terry Rozier and Jaylen Brown.
The Boston Celtics did what they were supposed to do Wednesday night against the Cavaliers, soundly beating them 123-103. It wasn’t the prettiest of games, especially in the first quarter, but at the end of the day talent took over. A 38-20 second quarter put the Celtics ahead by enough where the Cavs weren’t going to come back.
With Kyrie Irving and Al Horford both out, Boston’s end of the bench players got a chance at some minutes. Brad Wanamaker once again took advantage of his opportunity at playing time, scoring 11 points and tallying three assists with a team-best plus-22. Here are some more takeaways from the win Wednesday night.
Brown and Hayward lead a strong bench performance
Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward have both struggled with consistency this season, but Wednesday night was a bright spot for each of them. Hayward finished with 18 points and five rebounds and looked confident finding his shot. Brown had 23 points on 8-12 shooting to go along with six boards.
Brown in particular has had a very strong month of January. Here are his shooting splits for each month so far this year.
October (7 games): 36% FG, 32.1% 3P
November (12 games): 42% FG, 21.3% 3P
December (12 games): 49.2% FG, 34.1% 3P
January (12 games): 47.9% FG, 43.2% 3P
It seems the farther we get away from Brown’s right hand injury, the better his shooting percentages look. A wild concept; a player who doesn’t have as much pain in his shooting hand will make more shots.
Brown still needs to figure out where he fits within the offense, but he’s been playing well for about two months now. Instead of letting his first 19 games define the narrative of his entire career, let’s just wait and see.
Starter Rozier
Once again, Terry Rozier looked like a completely different player as a starter. He couldn’t have started the game better, hitting his first six shots and scoring 22 points in the first half. He finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
I feel like a broken record, but Rozier’s splits as a reserve vs a starter could not be more different.
Starter (6 games): 14.8 PPG/5.3 APG/5.5 RPG/48.4% FG/42.9% 3P
Reserve (42 games): 7.9 PPG/2.5 APG/3.9 RPG/36% FG/33.7% 3P
We’ll likely see again how Rozier adapts to a bench role after starting this Saturday against Golden State, but this is getting to the point where we can’t even enjoy when Rozier does well as a starter. The production is there, but the role is different. Why can’t he just adjust?
Are the Celtics finally getting it?
The Celtics have now won five straight games over the Raptors, Grizzlies, Heat, Hawks and Cavs. Not the strongest schedule, but they at least look like they’re playing the right way.
The Warriors are coming to town in what should be the biggest test of the season. Luckily for the Celtics, the game is at TD Garden, but the narrative around this team should shift dramatically depending on the result.
A win, and all of the Celtics prior shortcomings could be wiped away. Fans could confidently pick this team to make the Finals and maybe win it if they continue to improve. A loss, and we’re back to the waiting game, hoping the team figures things out instead of knowing they will. Either way, it should be fun.