Who knows why this finally happened, but it happened.
Aaron Nesmith played a lot in the Celtics' 120-111 win over the Hornets Wednesday night. And when he played, he played really, really well. First-round pick kind of well.
Fifteen points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 31 minutes.
Finally.
“I love having him on the floor,” said Celtics guard Jaylen Brown. “I know he makes mistakes sometimes, but he makes mistakes going 110 percent, and I’ll take that. I like having Aaron out there. He plays extremely hard and he can shoot the ball when he gets going, too. And he guards. Gets some guys, rebounds, blocks, throws his body and he had a great game for us tonight.”
There have been dribs and drabs of moments throughout this season that offer some optimism when it comes to the No. 14 overall pick in last year's NBA Draft.
We had that that stretch in February when Nesmith played 20 minutes or more in six straight games. (Unfortunately for the Celtics, they lost of those.) And he did manage double-digit scoring three previous times before his career-high output against Charlotte.
But this was undoubtedly Nesmith's most impactful contribution of the season, in so many ways.
First off, the Celtics needed his production. Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker weren't playing, and their replacements in the starting lineup -- Tremont Waters (6 points) and Evan Fournier (2) -- really didn't bring much to the table.
And then there was what Nesmith did in the form of much-needed optimism for this team. Brad Stevens and Co. are starved for hope, and, at least for this one night, that's exactly what the rookie offered.
There is a long way to go for the Celtics -- who sit with the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference -- to gain back the believers. But, thanks to Nesmith, Wednesday was a small step in the right direction.