Both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were out as the Celtics took the floor against the Nets Tuesday night, but rookie Baylor Scheierman did his best to fill their Jordans and 741s with a career-high 20 points and stellar second half performance that helped propel Boston to a 104-96 win.
"What I really like about him is his toughness. He's got a great level of toughness, like a chip on his shoulder," said Coach Joe Mazzulla postgame. "He's got kind of like, an F-you mentality."
Boston came out of the gate flat, shooting a dismal 25% from three in the first half. Scheierman played just over five minutes and took just two shots, sinking one from behind the arc. The void left by Brown and Tatum’s combine absences – a first this season – was apparent. Kristaps Porzingis got off to a hot start, but Derrick White shot a cold 1-7 from the field before halftime.
Scheierman’s time came late in third quarter. He subbed into a one-possession game for Sam Hauser, with under three minutes left. After sinking one shot, he woke up TD Garden with a buzzer beating three-pointer off a Porzingis assist that boosted the Celtics to a four-point lead. He had actually had a dress rehearsal for that shot, improvising off a broken play and draining a three that didn't count.
Mazzulla rode the hot hand through the start of the fourth quarter, and Scheierman produced. He immediately fed Jrue Holiday for a layup and then sank another three-pointer from over 25 feet. He used his 6’6 frame on the boards as the minutes spun forward and once again brought the crowd to their feet with yet another three off a rebound from Payton Pritchard. He rode his impossible momentum on the other side of the floor, picking off a pass from Day’Ron Sharpe and launching a 32-footer that was good.
“Honestly, Baylor changed the whole game for us,” White said in a walk-off interview with in-arena host Melisa Valdez.
Scheierman previously scored a career-high 15 points against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tuesday was just the 19th game the 24-year-old has played with the Boston team, but his opportunities may ramp up as Boston enters the home stretch of the regular season with the playoffs clinched and a comfortable lead on the New York Knicks to keep the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
"Obviously it's a lot of fun when it feels like it all slows down and you're just playing free," Scheierman said.
The Celtics will embark on a six-game road trip to face Western Conference teams, beginning with the Utah Jazz Friday night. It will mark the longest trip of the season for squad.