Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s hot victory against the Miami Heat

Boston Celtics takeaway No. 2) Aaron Nesmith makes most of his opportunity

Boston Celtics wing Aaron Nesmith has been fairly quiet this year. You can largely pin this on the fact that he really has not been presented with the opportunity to succeed.

Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t producing much in the first few games, but that does not mean that you stop playing him altogether.

He has played three total minutes over the last five games, including three DNPs.

In the first three games of the season, he played a bit more, averaging nine minutes a night, but didn’t make a single shot, most likely the cause for the multiple coach decision DNPs.

We saw last season what happens when you don’t play Aaron Nesmith for long stretches of time. He might have a cold shooting streak, but with consistent minutes, he eventually heats up.

When he isn’t making shots, he is still making plays. He is a high-energy player that is constantly on the ground diving for loose balls and crashing the boards for offensive and defensive rebounds.

Celtics fans all over Twitter were clamoring for more Nesmith minutes, and Thursday…it’s exactly what they got.

He shined with 13 points on five-for-eight shooting from the field and three-for-five from deep.

He played 18 minutes tonight, compared to the 30 he had played in the eight other games this season.

Obviously, the increase in minutes was due to Josh Richardson missing the game with a foot contusion. However, as was a question before the season, the two-guard trio of Nesmith, Langford, and Richardson has not exactly been all too different in production when given the minutes.

It is a good problem for the Celtics to have, an excess of productive players at a position of versatility, it leaves many lineups to be experimented with.