Boston Celtics: 3 most important matchups remaining on C’s schedule

February 29th vs. Houston Rockets

Next up on our list we have a matchup that, as of this writing, is only two games away from going down. Earlier this month the Boston Celtics squared off against the Houston Rockets; a game in which the C’s were competitive but, obviously, could not come out of victorious, as they wound up losing the contest to the tune of 116-105.

The reason why this matchup is so important is because, while it is obvious the C’s want to win every game they can (including this), this specific outing can more-so be seen as a learning exhibition for the team heading into the postseason.

The Rockets, despite being considered a “second-tier contender”, are one of the most dangerous units in the NBA thanks in large to their uber talented face of the franchise James Harden and their unrivaled floor spacing abilities.

This contest could present Boston with various learning moments: how can they fair against great isolation scorers (Harden and Russell Westbrook) at this point in the season, how good is their perimeter defense, how do they matchup against dominant small-ball lineups, etc.?

With that last question, one immediately arises in reference to the C’s own lineup: can they, too, excel when rolling out small-ball units, and whom would they slot in at the five?

For Houston, the tallest player in their lineup is 6-7 (Robert Covington) while their technical center, PJ Tucker, is just 6-5. They run out a lineup such as this to help floor spacing. Again, while the Celtics should indefinitely try to win this matchup like every other game on the docket, this would present them with a perfect opportunity to play with different small-ball lineups to see what could potentially work to their advantage come the postseason.

We’re not suggesting they do this for long periods of time — after all, with how well they’ve been playing, stick with what you know –, but for short spurts Brad Stevens should consider running lineups of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Grant Williams/ Semi Ojeleye at Houston to see how they fair with a similarly small unit — in other words, fight fire with fire.

Heck, I’d even consider seeing how a lineup would produce with Tatum logging minutes at the five.

With what very likely will be their last matchup together this season — unless they meet up in the NBA Finals — the Boston Celtics may want to test out a few things in regard to playing against perhaps the best small-ball team in the league. This includes theoretically throwing out their own floor spacing/ athletic lineup to see how it rival theirs.