Brad Stevens discusses Marcus Smart's big game, Amir Johnson's importance, and thoughts on Kelly Olynyk

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Boston Celtics' Brad Stevens discusses Marcus Smart's big game, Amir Johnson's importance, and thoughts on Kelly Olynyk





Atlanta Hawks' Paul Millsap (4) drives past Boston Celtics' Marcus Smart (36) during the fourth quarter in game 4 of a first-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston, Sunday, April, 24, 2016. The Celtics won 104-95 in overtime. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)



Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com




on April 25, 2016 at 2:00 PM




BOSTON -- Brad Stevens' spoke to reporters on a conference call Monday afternoon, one day after the Boston Celtics evened their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks in an overtime thriller.

A handful of notes follow below.


Leftovers about Smart

We all know Marcus Smart was great in Game 4. His brilliance jumped out, but Stevens pointed out one aspect that might have gone a little overlooked: Smart played the final 26:20, including overtime. That means when he started guarding Paul Millsap, Smart had already played a full quarter's worth of minutes. He still held Millsap to 1-for-5 shooting down the stretch as many of you might have heard.

Stevens actually brought up Smart's minutes after a question about how he determines playing time for critical guys such as Isaiah Thomas.

"We've got a lot of numbers backing up the best methods and the best way to do it, from a minute standpoint," Stevens said. "And we were pretty consistent throughout the regular season. In a situation where you bring him in maybe two minutes earlier in the playoffs, that's not going to have a huge impact on a guy, especially with the adrenaline, the extra day's rest, the 3 and a half minute media timeout at the end of each quarter, etc., etc. I think when you're talking a minute or two here or there, that's a little bit different than talking 48 straight minutes or so. That's what it was so impressive what Marcus did; he basically played 25 straight minutes."

One other subtly impressive quote from the Celtics coach: "There's gonna be times where we need Marcus to guard (Jeff) Teague, Marcus to guard (Kyle) Korver, Marcus to guard Millsap, etc."

How many players would be asked to defend all those guys?


The challenge of avoiding Millsap overreaction

When Stevens looks ahead to Game 5, he will need to remember a few things:

1. Millsap obliterated the Celtics, absolutely ruined them for most of regulation. With the amount of force he showed, Jonas Jerebko didn't stand much chance as the primary defender and neither did anyone else (until Smart's absurd final quarter-plus -- and who knows if that matchup is sustainable).

2. Regardless of what the Celtics do, Millsap may never play that well again in his entire life -- and that's no slight on him.

3. The Hawks still shot just 37 percent as a team. They missed some open looks, but the Celtics still kept them uncomfortable enough to allow 95 points in an overtime game. Stevens will need to balance the desire to make adjustments on Millsap with the knowledge that Atlanta owns a miserable 94.1 offensive rating for the series, and was actually worse than that in Game 4.

"Even during the game, that was a really hard call with Millsap because the one thing that you don't want to do is get those other guys going," Stevens said. "If you put too much emphasis on doubling the post or rotating or whatever the case may be, now (Kent) Bazemore gets a wide-open 3 in the corner or a layup on a cut, or (Jeff) Teague hits an open 3, Korver gets an open 3. Those are bad things as well. It's a tough call in the heat of the moment, you just kinda go with what you're feeling at that moment, go with what you're seeing. Then go with any numbers that might back up your decision."

As for Jerebko's ineffective defense on Millsap, Stevens said, "It's not for a lack of effort the way that Millsap was scoring on everybody yesterday. It wasn't just Jonas. Jonas is a really good defender for us. He has been ever since he got here. He's a big-time energy player, he's gonna have to just continue to study the guys he potentially will guard, and that's a lot of guys, because we're switching a lot of screens and so he's guarding everybody from Teague on a possession to Horford at the end of the game. His versatility defensively and his ability to space the floor are the No. 1 and 2 reasons in no particular order why he's starting for us right now. So, he's a good defender and we just need him to continue to be."


Amir under the radar

He doesn't get much credit because he's more steady than spectacular, but Amir Johnson has been helping the Celtics just about every game for the last two or three months. The big man was solid again in Game 4 with nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

"He's really important," Stevens said. "He's really important to our offense to with his rolling, getting to the rim, making himself available at the rim, those types of things. But really in the last two months I feel like he's played at a high, high level. I think there's two things that go with that. No. 1 is his health is obviously a factor with his foot (he had plantar fasciitis), although he didn't complain about it a ton other than those few games he missed, but I think the other thing is just getting used to a new system, getting used to a style of play, getting used to new teammates and everything else. But he's been impactful and his mobility is critical against their bigs."


No patience with Olynyk

Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) returned in Game 4, but only played four minutes and delivered minimal impact. Stevens knows the Celtics could use another floor-spacer (or four) but also can't afford to have any patience.

"Time will tell," the coach said of Olynyk's role moving forward. "I think that we'll see. I think the bottom line is -- we aren't in a position where if a guy has rust, that you're going to be able to play much, obviously. But if he feels really good and is playing really well then his minutes will certainly expand in that moment. I just felt like, the way that we had played the game before and the fact that he hadn't played in a week, it was probably better to go with the other guys. We'll see how he looks (before Game 5) in shootaround, we'll see how he goes through it. But we trust him. He's had a lot of great moments this year and he does give us the spacing that we need against these guys."


bob


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I am sure that Stevens talks in the same manner when speaking privately to his players, and it is a reason that the Cs have sped much faster through the re-build than any of us probably imagined.

He always seems fair, challenging, honest and direct. I bet we all wish that all of our bosses acted the exact same way.