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Before facing the LA Clippers at the STAPLES Center on Friday night, Celtics coach Brad Stevens told media how important the next set of games would be for his bench to “try to create real reliability” with some of Boston’s top players sidelined. .
Later that night, with Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart both missing from the roster and Daniel Theis leaving mid-game with knee pain, the second unit stepped up and delivered exactly the way Stevens had hoped.
Carsen Edwards broke for 16 points, Rob Williams added 10 in the scoring column, Payton Pritchard scored eight in his first game against an MCL sprain right, Semi Ojeleye pulled off a clutch defense and Jeff Teague distributed a team. – four assists. Overall, this fifth in the second unit helped the starting five to a 119-115 road victory over the Star-studded Clippers.
“They came in ready, focused and locked into the game plan,” Kemba Walker said of the Boston bench performance. “Carsen was amazing. He really put us back in the game. Payton, his first game back, he hit big shots. Rob was awesome on the bench and everyone the energy was just awesome. It was a great team victory.
The victory wouldn’t have been possible without the emergence of Edwards in the second quarter. LA was up 16 points during that span, but the second-year sniper kept Boston in the game with 10 points in a six-and-a-half-minute period before halftime.
Stevens loved seeing such a performance from Edwards, noting how persistent the young guard has been over the past two seasons despite his inconsistent role.
“Last year it was tough to get minutes on this team,” Stevens said. “We were so deep on the wing and so interchangeable with this group, that when there were minutes available you didn’t want to play small, you wanted to play more versatile. But he stayed with it. He’s had a good few months and his opportunity presented itself a few weeks ago in a game (when he scored 18 points against Cleveland).
“Even when he’s not playing, he doesn’t come down, he stays ready. So you thought he’d play a role tonight (with Brown and Smart out). We can’t win this match tonight without changing the complexion of the game. It’s really encouraging. ”
For Edwards, this game provided another huge boost of confidence after seeing his first three 3-point attempts fall through the net. He ended up shooting 3 of 5 from deep, increasing his 3-point clip to an impressive 40% of the season after shooting just 31.6% from deep last season.
“It doesn’t matter if you play a lot or if you don’t play a lot or if you’re a consistent guy seeing that first shot is always a good feeling,” said the 5-foot-11 goaltender. “I feel like I’m trying to learn to be able to get into a rhythm in other ways, by getting saves, by trying to get a rebound or something like that. But being able to see a photo coming in helps a lot.
“I’m just trying to stay consistent. it’s a good game for me and it was good to play, but i just want to keep trying to build on that.
While Edwards’ play received a lot of attention, Ojeleye’s effort flew somewhat under the radar. His five points and four rebounds didn’t fill the stat sheet, per se, but the way he defended one of the best players in the NBA all-around deserved praise.
“He doesn’t get a lot of attention for what he does,” Stevens said of the hard-working veteran wing. “But it’s not the easiest role in the world to be replaced with 32 seconds to go and keep Kawhi Leonard one-on-one. In a week, he’s on LeBron (James) at the end of the match and Kawhi at the end of the match.
Overall, it was a remarkable effort on the part of the entire Boston bench. And they made their coach proud by helping to take out one of the best teams in the league.
“We don’t need everyone to wear a cape,” Stevens said. “We just need everyone to do their jobs well. These guys did that.
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