*Signals a thumbs up with left hand*
Baylor Scheierman has quietly become one of the more reliable pieces of the Boston Celtics’ rotation. The second-year guard went from rarely seeing more than a few minutes per outing, to starting in over half of Boston’s games since the turn of the new year.
This past weekend, he moved back to the bench in wake of Jayson Tatum’s return to the lineup. Even in the transition, he hasn’t lost a beat.
“He doesn’t care about starting,” Mazzulla said of Scheierman on Sunday (via CLNS Media). He doesn’t care about anything except competing, and that doesn’t get rewarded enough.”
In fact, Scheierman actually put together one of his best performances of the season in the Celtics’ 109-98 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. He logged his fourth double-double of the year, all of which have come in the past month or so, with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-8 from the field and 4-6 from deep in 26 minutes off the Boston bench.
Scheierman consistently does the dirty work for the Celtics
The stats somewhat convey the impact he had in Cleveland, but not all the way. He spent time defending both Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, who managed 21 points on about 20 partial possessions guarded by Scheierman. Even in the situations where he conceded points, the former Creighton standout wasn’t getting beat one-on-one. Screens and transition opportunities did him in.
Scheierman’s primary defensive assignment was Jaylon Tyson, whom he held scoreless across 15.9 partial possessions.
The play of the game, to me anyway, came with about 4:14 remaining in the third quarter. Cavaliers guard Dennis Schroder looked to swing a pass to Tyson, but Scheierman read it and jumped the lane. Schroder hesitated and took an extra step after picking up his dribble which resulted in a travel.
Scheierman created that turnover, but won’t receive any sort of statistical credit.
Before the season, the Nebraska native stressed the work he’d put into his defense over the summer. It’s clearly paid off.
Not only has he become a consistent pest for opposing scorers, but after doing so, he’s making the conscious choice to crash the boards.
The 25-year-old’s knack for the glass can’t be overlooked anymore. He’s played a key role in the Cs’ emergence amongst the league’s top-seven teams in defensive rebounding percentage, a category they scraped the bottom of early in the season. Over his last 20 appearances, Scheierman is averaging 8.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
There’s undoubtedly skill that goes into rebounding. You have to know where to be. You have to box out and be strong enough to keep your man from getting to the ball. There’s also a piece of it where you simply have to want it -- especially as someone who spends most of their time defending the perimeter like Scheierman.
“When you have a guy that doesn’t miss a beat, regardless of the situation or the circumstances that he’s in, you kind of see stuff like that,” Mazzulla added.
Scheierman's toughness makes him an asset for this team
“Regardless of the circumstances” can’t be stressed enough. Scheierman fractured the thumb on his shooting hand in Boston’s Feb. 27 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
“I’ve never really played with it,” Scheierman said ahead of the March 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. “But I got some shots in this morning, this afternoon, and feel ready to go. We're kind of just evaluating it as it goes. But I feel good enough to be out there, and so it's kind of how it's going to be. I'm not going to sit out.”
Not only has he not missed a game since, but he’s been excellent in his five appearances.
Scheierman has averaged 10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game on 57.1% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc with his broken thumb.
As important as it is to have stars on the roster like Tatum and Jaylen Brown, being able to rely on players like Scheierman (among many others) is what firmly puts Boston in the top-tier of teams this season. There's no doubt that he'll contribute once the Celtics begin their playoff campaign next month.