BOSTON — The Boston Celtics earned a 116-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, taking down the now-De’Aaron Fox-led squad. But as the stars shined, Torrey Craig was amongst the biggest headlines as he made his Celtics debut against San Antonio.
Boston signed Craig to a contract the night of the trade deadline, a day after they traded Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets, opening up a roster spot. Brad Stevens noted that the Celtics planned to fill their 14th roster spot quickly, and he delivered on that promise just hours after he made the statement (though the Craig signing was presumably already in motion at that point).
After missing a few games due to right ankle injury reconditioning, Craig was finally available to make his debut against the Spurs on Wednesday.
Torrey Craig looked comfortable in his Celtics debut
Craig checked in with 4:14 remaining in the first quarter, but his court- time was short-lived. By the 3:32 mark, Joe Mazzulla subbed him out during a timeout. It looked as though the Celtics coach wasn't pleased with Craig’s positioning on the floor a couple of times.
That said, Craig did force a turnover in his first minute or so of action, and his defensive intensity looked useful.
The next time Craig checked in was the 5:52 mark in the second quarter, and his second run was much better than the first. Craig sank two threes, starting his Celtics career a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
He also looked comfortable within the flow of the offense, making passes where they were needed and keeping the ball humming along. The veteran tallied a nice assist to Jayson Tatum during this stint.
Craig got a short stint for the last 1:32 of the third quarter, too.
Though he didn’t play much, Craig looked pretty comfortable playing within the flow of Boston’s system on both ends of the court. After what looked like an early yank, he seemed to settle in a bit.
There were still a few moments where it looked like Craig over-helped on defense, causing him to be out of position, so that will be something to monitor moving forward. He finished the game with six points and one assist on 2-of-2 shooting from the floor, totaling 8:51 of playing time.
Overall, for a guy who could have a chance to be a part of the Celtics’ playoff rotation, this was a solid first game, and there’s plenty of room to grow.