Joe Mazzulla can't be afraid to trust Baylor Scheierman when the chips are down

The Celtics’ head coach has proven to be stubborn to a fault with his team, and that continues in the playoffs. Joe Mazzulla has a system in place that clearly works, and he trusts it. Sometimes it can be frustrating, as was the case last year when he seemed slow to adjust when the team squandered one opportunity after another in the Knicks series.

At the same time, he stuck to his guns the year before, and the Celtics steamrolled their way to a championship with nary a blip on the radar. So, it’s tough to get too down on the team or the coach after a somewhat fluky, albeit familiar-looking, loss to an inferior 76ers team in Game 2.

The reason they lost that game had more to do with shooting variance than anything else, as Philly shot the lights out from three, going 19-39, while the Celtics struggled to the tune of 13-50. The only real talk about minutes and rotations was around the backup center position and the ongoing battle between Nikola Vucevic and Luka Garza.

Scheierman needs to play more

But there’s one other interesting lineup choice that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Baylor Scheierman proved throughout the season to be a reliable two-way player who became a vital part of the rotation, earning his keep in some of the biggest moments of the season, like their big win over the Thunder and close loss to the Knicks in MSG - two of his best performances of the season.

He was steadily playing big minutes down the stretch of the season, sometimes even closing games, but he has been mostly iced out in this playoff series. He played just three minutes through three quarters of Game 1 and saw just 11 minutes in Game 2. That’s not enough, especially when the rest of the role players are struggling so mightily.

Sure, if Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard are lighting it up, I can understand limiting Baylor’s minutes. I also understand the desire to get Jordan Walsh into the lineup in this series, as he has done a great job of guarding Tyrese Maxey.

But on a night where nobody other than Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown reached 10 points, and Maxey and VJ Edgecombe were destroying Boston on the other end, Scheierman should have gotten a longer look. That was exactly the kind of game and situation that Baylor has impacted all season long, and he could have provided a much-needed spark.

Baylor can be an X-Factor for Celtics off the bench

He has earned the opportunity and been a big part of the Celtics’ success this season. Depth has been a calling card, and there’s no reason to go away from that now. Scheierman is a plus defender who can hold his own against smaller guys like Maxey, as well as bigger guys like Paul George.

He’s confident and reliable with the ball in his hands, he can make plays, and he hits open threes. He has also shown that he’s not scared of the moment, and he’s a guy I weirdly trust to step up in a tight playoff game in a hostile environment.

Hopefully, Mazzulla sees it the same way, and Scheierman will get a larger role going forward, especially if there’s another night when his teammates don’t quite have it. I don’t think it’s crazy to think he could be a real X-Factor for this team in these playoffs, but he has to get the chance.

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