Baylor Scheierman keeps playing his best at the best possible times for the Celtics

The Boston Celtics were right there against the New York Knicks. In fact, it took Josh Hart turning into Stephen Curry for the Knicks to prevail over the Jaylen Brown-less Celtics in the closing minute. Annoying? Sure, but disheartening? Not in the slightest.

Especially with how the Celtics kept themselves in the game despite pretty awful shooting nights from Jayson Tatum and Derrick White. Among the standouts was Baylor Scheierman, who finished with 20 points on seven-for-eight shooting, including six threes, three of which came in the fourth quarter (nine of his 11 points of the period).

This is a bigger deal than what the statline will tell you. No, this won't be a deep dive on some advanced analytics for Scheierman. It's just further proof of something that has become readily apparent as the season has gone on: Baylor Scheierman can rise to the occasion.

No, he doesn't always shoot as well as he did against the Knicks, but the Celtics would not have been in this game (which the Knicks were definitely not taking lightly) without him. His shot-making, along with his decision-making, kept Boston in a game many would have thought a lost cause, given everything working against them, as mentioned above.

With the playoffs just around the corner, this is a huge development because, while they may have their whole team ready for the postseason, they also need to know who will specifically be ready for when the going gets tough. After nights like tonight, it's clear Scheierman will be.

Scheierman has been doing this a lot lately

When the Celtics have asked him to, whether it's because they don't have better options or not, Scheierman has come through for them as Boston has given him a bigger role in bigger games. Remember when the Celtics handled their business against Cleveland in Jayson Tatum's second game back?

A certain Celtics sophomore had something to do with that.

It's only gotten better from here. Remember when the Celtics got the best of Oklahoma City in a clash of the titans? Scheierman's presence made a huge difference.

And Scheierman has done this against other notable teams over the second half of the season.

And now, he's done it against the Knicks, a team that the Celtics are likely to go up against this coming postseason. There will be some questions about the Celtics going into this postseason, but Scheierman's efforts have been impactful enough to conclude that he won't be one of them.