During this final month of action, 3 Boston Celtics players have a ton still to prove
After a disappointing first half of the 2020-21 campaign, the Boston Celtics look to be turning things around in half number two, as they are now holding an overall record of 31-26, are slotted into the Eastern Conference’s fifth seed, and are in the midst of a six-game winning streak.
Leading the charge, of course, are the likes of the team’s All-Star wing duo in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who, during the month of April alone, are posting combined per-game averages of 54.1 points and 15.3 rebounds while both are shooting north of 50 percent from the field and around 45 percent from long range.
Outside of these ballers, however, there have been quite a few other contributors who have aided in the C’s successes of late.
Running alongside the Jays is the seemingly healthy Kemba Walker who, over the last five outings, has averaged 18 points, 6.4 rebounds, and six assists on 42 percent shooting from the floor.
Marcus Smart, the Swiss Army man himself, has also been a huge contributor over their strong April, posting 14.6 points, 6.2 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from deep.
Most recently, the team’s newest addition in Jabari Parker has shown he, too, can be a solid contributor off the pine, as he managed to go for 11 points and four boards on an impressive 83 percent shooting from the floor in just 16 minutes of action.
However, now, as we embark on the final stretch of the regular season and head into the playoffs, more players on the roster must prove their worth should they wish to be viewed as a worthy asset come the first round and onward.
To us at the Houdini, 3 players, in specific, have the most to prove during this stretch run:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Evan Fournier
The whole perception of the March 25th trade deadline was that the Boston Celtics simply settled for the likes of Evan Fournier instead of taking a chance at swinging for the fences on players such as his own Orlando Magic teammates, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic.
However, upon his arrival, Danny Ainge has stressed that the 28-year-old wing was a player they highly coveted and that he is someone viewed, not just as a rental for the rest of the season but, rather, a long-term contributor within the rotation.
"“When we acquire Evan, we don’t acquire him with the idea that he’s going to be with us for just this year,” Ainge said. “We acquired him with the idea that he could potentially be here for a long time, like all the players that we acquire.” “This opportunity was unique,” he continued. “And to add a player of his caliber. We’ve talked often about shooting with size. Here’s a 6-7 kid that is a good shooter, can playmake, can handle the ball. Just another creator for us. And a very consistent player.”"
While on paper, a nearly 20 point-per-game scorer added to this roster seems like a solid idea. The problem, however, is he’s only managed to play in a total of four games since joining to team back in late March due to health and safety protocols, and they were highly inconsistent — one game, he would shoot 0-10 for zero points while during another he dropped 23.
Now listen, we get that with coming to a new team there’s bound to be a learning curve, which is why we certainly excuse Fournier for the inconsistency right off the bat. Unfortunately, with him being out for seven games and counting, he has not yet been able to build any chemistry with his teammates or stronger comfortability within the system.
This could wind up being a problem come the postseason if such necessities for being on a winning team are not established and Brad Stevens tries to thrust him into the key role that they had in place for him upon his arrival.
Further hindered by the signing of Jabari Parker, once he returns, it’s imperative that Evan Fournier does his best to fully understand the team’s scheme as well as how to best work alongside their core.
Boston Celtics player No. 2) Robert Williams III
All season long, it appears as though Robert Williams III has been tasked with proving himself on a nightly basis.
In the beginning, we saw the third-year big serving as a commodity off the bench, coming in for a change of pace mid-game and seeing averages of about 16 minutes a night.
Fast forward a few months later and we find Time Lord finally getting his shot in the starting rotation at the pivot and, in turn, if posting 10.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and two blocks per game on 69 percent shooting from the field in such a role.
For years now, we’ve been preaching our desires to see Williams serve as the C’s starting center and, now that he has it, we want him to keep it heading into the playoffs.
This is why we believe this final stretch of the season is so vital for the 23-year-old.
No, it’s not just a matter of him proving he can play well in the first five — he’s already done this — but, rather, if he can play well against the team’s first-round matchup and, during these final 15 games, they’ll be squaring off against three potential postseason foes in the New York Knicks, the Charlotte Hornets, and the team that Williams had problems with in the Eastern Conference Finals last season, the Miami Heat.
Though we hope to see the third-year big play well in general during this final month of action, it is these five total outings (squaring off against Miami and Charlotte twice) that we believe to be the most important for the center to shine.
Boston Celtics player No. 3) Payton Pritchard
Heading into the postseason, perhaps one of the biggest question marks surrounding the Boston Celtics is found at their point guard position, for starter Kemba Walker’s health status is always of great concern to fans, the media, and, presumably, the team’s coaching staff.
Because of this, having competent insurance policies in place should he not be at full health will be of great benefit to the Cs, which is why viewers should monitor the play of rookie guard, Payton Pritchard, during these final 16 games of the season.
At the beginning of the year, the former Oregon standout was proving to be a relative steal in comparison to his 26th overall pick status and, while we at HH still believe this to be the case, since his hot start Pritchard has at worst regressed and at worst plateaued.
Now, granted, this is not all that shocking for a first-year player, but being the direct backup to someone with a nagging injury, the rookie is serving as an understudy on call every night.
Averaging seven points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 44 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from deep it’s evident that Boston’s rookie can provide quality minutes for this team.
Now, during this final month, Pritchard has to show flashes of something more in order to raise the comfort level for the state of the point guard position heading into the playoffs.