Celtics notebook: Terry Rozier explains the difference in this year’s Celts

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Terry Rozier would qualify as an expert on recent Celtic history. He spent the last four years with them, and, after moving on to the Hornets, he’s gotten to see them from the other side of the fence.

And the latter look can’t be too pretty, with the Celts taking the season series from Charlotte, 3-0, with wins of 21, 26 and 17 points — the latest a 109-92 New Year’s Eve pasting.

Rozier is impressed with the evolution of the C’s from an underachieving 2018-19 to a club that’s now 23-8 and second in the Eastern Conference.

“Last year obviously we had bumps in the road that we couldn’t overcome,” said Rozier, who went 11 for 41 from the floor against the Celts (4-13, 10 points Tuesday). “This year I think they’ve got a lot of guys that’s just leading the way and putting everything aside and just having fun for the most part, and I think it’s working for them.”

One could easily make the argument that the Celtics had more talent last season.

“Yeah, you could say that. But talent, it can’t always get you to where you want to go,” said Rozier. “You’ve got to have the guys that want to be good, want to play hard, want to learn — stuff like that. Obviously you can have all the talent in the world; if you don’t put it together and everybody don’t buy in, it’s not going to work out. And I think that’s what we got caught up in last year. But this year I’m happy for them. It’s like they pulled it back together.”

Sort of how the Celts, minus the injured Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward and with Rozier starting at the point, made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in 2018?

“For sure,” Rozier said. “Like I said, when you come together, man, the sky’s the limit — for any team. That’s what we did that year, and that’s what they’re doing right now. I’m happy for them.”

Star on rise

Shortly after being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week Monday, Jaylen Brown was unable to make the flight here because of a sinus infection. Coach Brad Stevens reported that Brown is “Feeling better (Tuesday), thankfully… I think he’s day-to-day. He feels a lot better than he did (Monday). (Monday) was the worst of it from what I’ve heard.”

As for what’s gotten Brown too this latest honor, the coach said, “I think he’s improved his reads with the ball, driving and kicking and making the right play. And the more that happens, the more the ball finds you again. He’s always been able to drive it through contact, but now he picks his spots, I think, well. He’s playing really assertive, really aggressive. He’s having a great year. But just like I’ve said with Jayson (Tatum) too, I just think he can get that much better, so that’s the fun part about it.”

Kanter block party

Enes Kanter had a big day against the Hornets with 13 points and 14 rebounds in 23 minutes off the pine. He also had a career-high six blocked shots, eclipsing the four he’s had on three occasions.

He came in averaging 0.6 blocks this season and 0.5 for his career.

“Yup, new year, new me, baby,” Kanter said with a smile. “Nah, it’s good to be out there, because, I mean, we know we’re going to score the ball. We’ve got enough talent to go out there and score the ball, so the thing coach Brad is always talking about, if you want to get to the next level, it’s defensively. So that was focus. That was everybody’s focus for (Tuesday).”

Regarding the blocks, he said, “I would like to give the credit to my teammates. I think they put me in a really good position. And before the game, Brad had a really good game plan, so it was all about the game plan and my teammates.

“Obviously I’m a shot-blocker,” he added with another smile.

Kanter’s bigger role here is as an offensive rebounder, and he had two key putback scores against the Hornets.

“That’s been my job my whole career,” he said. “I always try to give my teammates a lot of confidence whenever they’re out there. ‘Hey, shoot the ball. If you miss, I promise I’m going to go get that offensive rebound.’ So I want them to shoot with a lot of confidence.”

Said Kemba Walker, “We all love shooting, so we’re going to keep shooting. And he’s going to try his best to get those offensive rebounds. That’s the kind of guy he is. You have to love bigs like that, guys who don’t really care about the basketball much — especially with so much scoring that we have on the perimeter. You just have to respect it.”

‘Special guy’

There was a fairly quiet crowd for the 3 p.m. tip-off here, but Walker still drew a lot of attention after spending his first eight seasons with the Hornets and becoming the player face of the franchise.

Things were calmer, however, than for his first trip back in early November.

“It was good, man,” Walker said. “I felt really, really good. Like you said, a little less emotional. But it was fun. It’s just always fun to see my old friends, my old teammates, the people that work around the building, who take care of this place and just a lot of old faces. It was fun.”

Said Stevens, “People are going to react like that forever, whether it’s here or in Storrs (Connecticut). Wherever he goes, he’s a special guy. He’s an awfully good player, and he plays both sides of the ball. He’s been really good for us.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/39mWo3Y