Celtics' Sturdy Structure Saving Season

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Courtside View: Celtics' sturdy structure saving season. (Try saying that 3x fast!)

By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Mar 03, 2013 @ 12:00 AM


Celtics guard Jason Terry took a bit of umbrage when asked about Doc Rivers digging into his "bag of tricks" to pull out a zone defense against one of the best-shooting teams in the league during the second half of Friday night’s 94-86 victory against the Warriors.

"Not at all," he corrected. "It’s just a situation where, if it’s in your system, then why not use it? We work on it every day. We rib Doc and the coaches sometimes about, ‘Why are we going over this stuff if we’re not going to use it?’ So tonight was a good example of him having confidence in it, and using it.

"At one point, we had eight possessions in a row and eight stops. That’s phenomenal. Why would you change at that point?"

Terry’s greater point was simple — what the Celtics have done since Rajon Rondo’s torn anterior cruciate ligament tipped off a torrent of season-ending injuries is not based on gimmicks. There are no smoke and mirrors involved in why the team has gone 11-4 after a 20-23 start. You don’t win triple-overtime games against the Nuggets, beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City, or hold the Warriors to 32 percent shooting based on luck.

Rivers put a structure in place for this squad back in October that took a while to support the weight of a largely revamped roster. But as the injuries piled up, and the team fell dangerously close to the playoff bubble midway through the season, that structure has held through season-ending surgeries for Leandro Barbosa (left ACL), Jared Sullinger (back) and Rondo, and a slew of new additions since the All-Star break.

"We have what it takes," said Jeff Green, who bounced back from a hard fall on his left elbow with 12 of his 18 points in the second half Friday night while donning a shooting sleeve to protect the joint. "The pieces that (Celtics president Danny Ainge is) bringing are important to what we’re trying to do. Our chemistry is getting better and better each game, and we’ve just got to continue to build each game in order for us to continue this run that we’re making."

For all the talk of "big moves" at the trade deadline, the only one Ainge made with another team involved enigmatic guard Jordan Crawford. After averaging nearly 20 points a game in Washington early in the year, Crawford fell out of favor with the return to health of Wizards point guard John Wall, and Washington essentially gave him away to the Celtics in exchange for Barbosa’s expiring contract and little-used center Jason Collins.


Despite his reputation as a shoot-first, think-later player, Crawford appears to have quickly bought in to the structure of a team with deep playoff aspirations.

"I thought Jordan Crawford came in (Friday night) and gave us a huge lift," Rivers said. "It’s funny because he gave us a lift with his passing as much as he did with his shooting. I thought he made some terrific passes."

"I knew he was a good offensive player," Paul Pierce said, "but I’ve been really surprised with how well he plays defense. When you come in with the reputation of being an offensive player, it gets overshadowed how well you play defense. I really give him credit with the way he’s defended. He understands our rotations. He understands our pick-and-roll defense. He’s picked up on it quickly for being such a young player."

In the past two weeks, the Celtics have also added guard Terrence Williams and frontcourt players Shavlik Randolph and D.J. White, all of whom recently completed stints in the Chinese Basketball Association, on 10-day contracts. On Friday, Williams was signed through the rest of this season with conditional provisions for next season as well.

"This is different (from past years) because a lot of them are young, and a lot of them really haven’t established themselves as players yet," Rivers said of the additions. "In the past, the P.J. Browns, and Gary Paytons, or whoever we brought in, had really established themselves. You knew who they were. I thought those were easier."

Terry said he will take it upon himself to help ease this transition as the Celtics take a couple days off in advance of a back-to-back in Philadelphia and Indiana on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"My role on this team is to be a guy to help the young guys along," the 14th-year veteran said, "show them the system, keep them up and keep them positive."

And, in doing so, help strengthen a locker room that has dealt with more than its share of massive hits in recent weeks, and has somehow emerged stronger from it.


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