As the Celtics entered the All-Star break on a high note with last Wednesday’s win over the Pistons, they were understandably in high spirits. There were smiles all around the locker room as everyone departed for their respective destinations, as they boasted the best record in the NBA.
But before they left, Joe Mazzulla wanted to make sure they weren’t too high on themselves.
“You can’t run away, you can’t ignore it, you can’t run away from it,” Mazzulla said. “I do think there is a comfort level so to speak, knowing that (we have the best record). But that was kind of my message to the guys. Just, at the same time, you can’t be too comfortable because when we come back, it picks right up. And we have a responsibility to all the work that we put in up to this point in the season to raise our level and to play even better than we have been.”
The Celtics return from the All-Star break on Thursday night in Indiana as the top seed in the NBA. With 23 games remaining in the regular season, there’s plenty to keep an eye on as they prepare for the playoffs and their pursuit of a championship. Here are four things to watch:
1. Chase for the top seed
The C’s have held on to the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season to date, but there’s certainly no guarantee that continues. They return from the break just a half-game ahead of the Bucks for the No. 1 seed and tied in the loss column. As the clear-cut favorites to come out of the East, the remaining stretch could determine who has home court in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtics and Bucks – who have split their first two meetings – meet one more time on March 30 in Milwaukee. If the two teams finish tied, the winner of that matchup will determine the tiebreaker. Of the Celtics’ 23 remaining games, 13 are against teams currently below .500, but the schedule includes five games against the East’s other top four teams – Bucks, 76ers and Cavaliers – and 13 road games.
2. Finding some rhythm
The Celtics’ starting lineup from last season’s run to the NBA Finals – Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Robert Williams – has only been on the floor together for 29 minutes this season. That’s, obviously, largely a function of availability. Williams missed the first 29 games of the season recovering from knee surgery and has missed several games since his return, Smart just missed 11 games with an ankle injury and Horford is sitting out back-to-backs. It’s been hard to get that combination on the court.
Others – like Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon – have stepped up remarkably and shown that the Celtics are deeper than last season, but the C’s are at their best when that starting five is together. That group played 443 minutes together last season – by far the most of any lineup – and their chemistry showed in the Finals run. With all of them seemingly healthy coming out of the break, it would serve the C’s well to get that lineup more run together down the stretch and shake off the cobwebs before the playoffs begin, even while they manage their workloads.
3. Monitoring Tatum’s workload
Tatum’s minutes have been a hot topic between the star and the front office after he suffered from some fatigue last postseason. As the C’s return to action, Tatum is second in the NBA with 37.3 minutes per game and fourth with 2,051 total minutes as he remains on track to set a career-high in minutes.
Tatum changed his approach last summer to prepare for a greater workload this season, but as he continues to manage some nagging injuries, the Celtics want to make sure he’s as fresh as possible for the playoffs, and that may include sitting some games down the stretch.
“It’s a discussion point and obviously we’ve mapped that out,” Brad Stevens said on Feb. 10. “I think the reality is we need to balance it right, but we also need to make sure that he gets enough high-minute games, too. It is a balance. I think the idea of having a night or two or playing a little bit less is good. But you also need a few – especially heading into the playoffs – a few 40, 42-minute games to get ready for those games. So there’s a balance. I think we’re in good shape with that.”
4. Filling out the roster
The Celtics have one open roster spot, and it seems that they plan on filling it.
“I’d be very surprised if we went into the playoffs with an open roster spot, don’t think that’s going to happen,” Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said in an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” last week.
Grousbeck said the Celtics are looking at free agents and buyout market candidates, though that pool is dwindling. Danny Green joined the Cavaliers and Kevin Love signed with the Heat after they were each respectively bought out by their previous teams. Could Will Barton, who was bought of his contract by the Wizards, be a candidate as a backup scoring wing?
One thing is for certain: The right fit will be a player who’s fine with playing limited minutes at best, and absent entirely from other games.
“There’s a lot of different ways to look at it,” Stevens said. “But I think the way (to look at it is) ‘can play but doesn’t need to play.’ And that’s a hard needle to thread, right? And I don’t blame anybody that wouldn’t want to fill that role. But I think we’re really deep right now. And we already have a bunch of guys that are giving up for one cause, and they done it. …
“So you’ll look at it and you will decide, OK, is there somebody that fits that need and who’s really excited to be here if that’s the case, or is it do you feel like you’ve got that all filled and maybe invest in a younger player.”
