Celtics Notebook: Aaron Nesmith chips in with defense, Ja Morant preparations

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/03/celtics-notebook-aaron-nesmith-chips-in-with-defense-ja-morant-preparations.html



Celtics Notebook: Aaron Nesmith chips in with defense, Ja Morant preparations


Published: Mar. 02, 2022, 6:15 a.m.


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



BOSTON — The Celtics held one of the second best offense in the NBA below 100 points for the second time on the past eight games on Tuesday night at the TD Garden. After the game, Ime Udoka credited part of that defensive effort to the his second-year wing Aaron Nesmith.

“The point of Aaron (starting the second half) was to keep Payton, Derrick, Grant more so in their in their rotation and infuse his energy and physicality that he brings,” Udoka said. “And so he was huge, obviously. The run we had to start the quarter and the 33 point second half in general, I think he was a big part of that. Didn’t score a lot on the stat sheet or Payton as well. But they really impacted the game and brought physicality and I think that’s something that Aaron does on a day to day basis. I will give them credit for being ready to be a professional and being ready when called upon.”


Nesmith had largely been on the outside of Udoka’s rotation even after the trade deadline cleared out some of the logjam ahead of him with Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford both dealt away. Nesmith has struggled with his shot all year long but found other ways to make an impact during Tuesday’s rally, which stood out to his teammates.


“We know it’s not easy for those guys, excuse me, to come off the bench and make the impact scoring-wise that they did tonight,” Marcus Smart said. “We understand there’s going to be nights where they can’t kind of do that. But for them, it’s finding ways to impact the game. I think we did that tonight. We got a little bit of scoring, but everybody’s playing hard. Everybody’s sacrificing for the greater good of the team. And I definitely think the guys coming off the bench definitely helped with that and kind of got that spark going. Payton came in and hit some big shots, played some really good defense and kind of got us going to get back into the game. So you gotta tip your hats to those guys.”

Boston’s bench helped to limit Atlanta to 33 percent shooting overall in the second half, including 2-of-16 from 3-point range. Nesmith was a team-best plus 10 among the reserves, a number which was largely a byproduct of the second half starters opening the third quarter with a 14-0 run.


“We really just said it’s all about just making our offense a little bit easier by getting out in transition and defending with more aggression with less fouling,” Grant Williams said. “We did a great job in the first half of really just being physical, but we were fouling too much. So it was just about adjusting to what the refs were calling as well as putting a little bit more pressure on the guys that were the primary ball handlers and making them not as comfortable as they were. Giving up open 3s at the 3-point line rather than three feet back, a completely different shot.


“I think we just picked up the intensity. That first group did a phenomenal job of coming out with great energy and Aaron did a great job of providing a lift for us as well.”


Grizzlies coming to town

Ja Morant had scored over 42 points in each of his last two games to help lead his Memphis Grizzlies to within a half-game of the No. 2 seed in the loaded Western Conference. The second-year guard will be bringing those talents to the TD Garden on Thursday night in Boston’s next challenging defensive test.

“He’s a dynamic guard,” Grant Williams explained. “Trae is a little more of a deep threat, shifty, versus Ja creates a lot more downhill transition, creates a lot of flow for their team. He’s MVP in my eyes already this early in his career and there’s a lot of tremendous respect to him and what he’s done. And the teams that they have, they play together every single night – Desmond, Jaren – like they’re one of the most fun teams to watch in my opinion.”


Marcus Smart believes the win over the Hawks will help Boston get ready for the firepower that Memphis brings.

“Gets your ready,” he said. “Gets your ready for a team coming in hot, that’s playing very well, got some talented guys. Especially a guy like Ja Morant with his talent and ability. It’s going to take all five of us again to be able to maintain him and his team. It’s a great challenge for us tonight to play against a team in a guy like Trae and his ability to use his speed, his quickness. It’s a good test for us. What better way to start it off with a game like this tonight.”


Bob


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