BOSTON – The Boston Celtics will play their final preseason game Wednesday night against the Knicks, and they will do so without the bulk of their starters in their rotation.
Coach Brad Stevens will send out a starting unit of Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jonas Jerebko and Amir Johnson, while typical starters Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and Al Horford rest up.
This will give Stevens and the coaching staff one final time to see their mostly youthful cast of reserves in live game action before the regular season commences next Wednesday night against the Brooklyn Nets.
“We're going to play some of the younger guys to get them extended minutes,” Stevens explained. “We need a lot of those guys to help us, especially as we move forward, so these are just as important as every other time that we've taken the floor.”
Resting Thomas allow the Celtics to heavily showcase their backup ball handlers, Smart and Rozier, who are expected to eat up a bulk of the vacant minutes left by Evan Turner, who left for Portland via free agency this past summer.
“I like having multiple ball handlers , and Marcus and Terry both can handle the ball and can rotate those duties,” said Stevens. “They both know the 1, 2 and 3 in our offense and one of the requirements of that position is to be able to know multiple spots.”
Lastly, tonight's game will be vital gauge for the Celtics as they prepare to make their final roster cuts. Boston currently has 16 players on guaranteed contracts, but it must trim its roster to 15 by Monday at 5 p.m.
So far, Stevens says it's been very difficult to determine who should make the final cut.
“Unfortunately, oftentimes it works itself out from the standpoint of you can tell ,” said Stevens. “But these guys have all gotten better, and it's a tribute and a testament to them because it's not only not easy to get better and to keep a good mindset, but they're probably dealing with a lot of stress. And to continue to improve, to continue to come with a smile and work everyday and do those types of things is a testament to these guys, so we're going to have to make hard decisions.
“The one thing I feel good about,” Stevens added, “is that we've got more than 15 NBA players on our roster right now.”
Unfortunately, the Celtics can only keep 15 guys, and tonight's game and their next few practice sessions will be critical in determining who will stay and who will go.
– Taylor C. Snow
