Boston Celtics: Projecting Game 4 starting lineup against Nets

If the Boston Celtics have any hope of rematching the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals after being bounced by the Cream City two years ago, winning Game 4 tonight will go a long way in achieving that.

Unfortunately, the Cs will be far from full health today as they face a litany of injury woes. Their depth will suffer, but the playoffs are when 40+ minute outings from the starting lineup are imperative.

That said, three guys that Brad Stevens regularly deployed throughout the starting lineup could be MIA tonight.

According to Keith Smith, the Cs will definitely be without Jaylen Brown (who was ruled OFS before the Nets series even started), almost definitely without their rising star big man Robert Williams, and potentially be missing their max contract point guard in Kemba Walker:

Who might the Boston Celtics plug into the lineup instead?

Let’s take a look at the five most likeliest starters if none of the guys on the injury report end up suiting up for the Cs:

Starting 5: PG Marcus Smart, SG Romeo Langford, SF Evan Fournier, PF Jayson Tatum, C Tristan Thompson

Without Kemba Walker in the lineup, Marcus Smart slides down to the point guard spot. When he was initially drafted, Smart was pegged as a potential sixth-man combo guard, but injuries over the years have forced him into the lead facilitator role in Beantown.

He has responded admirably enough to warrant emergency starts this season, and in turn his assist rate has skyrocketed. Smart averaged a career-high 5.7 dimes per game this season as Walker missed 29 games.

The interesting twist here is throwing 2019 lottery pick Romeo Langford into the starting lineup. Appearing in just 18 games in 2020-21, Langford had a pedestrian 35/27/75 shooting slash and failed to make any significant leap from his underwhelming rookie season.

Somehow, though, he rose from the ashes in Game 3 and provided the highest plus/minus differential on the entire team.

Langford has accumulated 45 minutes of time on the floor through the first three games of the Brooklyn series, more than expected postseason contributors Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard and experienced playoff power forward Jabari Parker.

It would be hard to see Stevens not call on the Indiana product to fill in as a spot-starter tonight, and not just because the two share a Hoosier State bond.

Elsewhere in the lineup, Evan Fournier–who was ticketed for a starting job the minute Brown went down with a wrist injury in his non-shooting hand–and Jayson Tatum (no explanation needed) should reprise their starting roles.

In the frontcourt, Tristan Thompson essentially benefits from being the last man standing after the Daniel Theis trade deadline deal and Robert Williams’ various ailments. That said, he is more than just a place-holder, as his dominant Game 3 effort (19 points, 13 rebounds) proved on Friday night. Thompson may just be the team’s best chance of overcoming Brooklyn’s big man weakness if he can replicate those efforts.

Boston Celtics fans hoping to see Pritchard or Nesmith in the starting lineup may be disappointed tonight, but even the worst-case scenario of starting Langford after beginning the playoffs shooting 4-13 is the chance his athleticism will do more to stop the offensive barrage of the Brooklyn Big 3 than the undersized Walker is capable of.

A best-case scenario would see him either boost his trade value or prove that he is a keeper from a 2019 draft class still looking to leave an impact on this team.