Celtics Notebook: Stevens rests regular rotation

The NBA season resumes for real for the Boston Celtics on Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks, the first of eight seeding games before the playoffs begin on Aug. 17.

Because of that, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens wasn’t taking any chances in Tuesday night’s scrimmage finale against the offensive-minded, run-and-gun Houston Rockets in the Orlando bubble.

Guards Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, forwards Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward, and big men Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter all all sat out in order to get some key rest before Friday’s meaningful play. Walker, who has been dealing with a left knee injury, returned for nine minutes of action in Sunday’s scrimmage win over Phoenix. Stevens said Walker came out of Sunday “feeling great.”

Stevens compared the approach to the team’s last preseason game back in October.

“It’s more about having the appropriate amount of time to prepare and the appropriate amount of time to rest going into playing basically every other day for the next couple of weeks, with one exception where we play a back-to-back,” said Stevens. “Being that we play Friday night, those guys all got in a hard workout (Monday) — we went pretty hard — and then took today off and we’ll practice again tomorrow. Just decided that those two practice days, as we get ready for what’s ahead, are more important now.”

Stevens advised his regulars to “get off their feet” on Tuesday and enjoy the day off. That’s, of course, easier to do when players can avoid the practice facility and stay in their homes or spend time with their families. But in the bubble, if you’re not playing ball or with the team, there’s not a whole lot of other options.

Smart stays on his message

Smart opened his session with the media on Tuesday morning with an important message.

“I still want to say we’re honoring Breonna Taylor and justice for her,” he said. “But also want to tell everybody, especially in the African American community, to go vote. Texas, Oklahoma, wherever you’re at … go vote, and let’s make a change.”

Smart, who grew up in Texas and played college ball at Oklahoma State, said that he and other players have spoken to former first lady Michelle Obama, as well as Taylor’s mother for guidance on how to voice their thoughts and strengthen their messaging on the subject of social justice. In particular, justice for Taylor, a Kentucky EMT who in March was killed in her home by Louisville police officers who used a battering ram during a “no-knock warrant” to enter her apartment, has been a focal point of both NBA and WNBA players.

“Just overall the amount of people really dedicated to help us keep our voice alive and find the right things and points to get across to what we want to be heard and what we want to be done, and that’s justice,” said Smart. “So you’ve got to commend everybody who has taken time to really put their stamp on this.”

With the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest throughout the country, many NBA players are using their platform to the best of their ability, while also trying to focus on basketball and competing for a championship in the Orlando bubble.

“We’re professionals. With that come a lot of responsibility, so you got to be able to multi-task,” Smart said. “We have a lot of distractions going on around us, we got some things that we’re fighting for. But at the same time, we’re still here to play and here to win a championship. I think that’s everybody in that bubble.”

Next up: The real deal

Boston currently sits in the third spot in the Eastern Conference with a record 43-21. Their eight-game seeding schedule appears to be in their favor. Friday night’s opener will be a stiff test against the Bucks, owner of the best record in the league and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, only two of the other seven games are against teams with winning records.

Smart knows the Celtics have some things to clean up after a mixed bag of results during the team’s three scrimmages. Transition defense, and preventing easy buckets down low and second-chance opportunities for opponents are among areas for the C’s to improve.

“Just like in a fight, you get your head hit a few times, you’re going to change it up and start protecting your body from those head shots,” he said. “We’re trying to put the fire under our butts and get us back to that urgency we need.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3hKf691