After sinking his first three three-pointers of the second half, including a deep 26-footer at the third-quarter buzzer (with the first one erased by a Brooklyn foul) and a no-dip corner three off an Al Horford pass, Baylor Scheierman snagged an errant pass from Day’Ron Sharpe, who was scrambling trying to save the ball. Scheierman sprinted down the court and confidently pulled up from 33 feet.
The ball bounced off the front rim, hit the top of the backboard, kissed the front rim again, and finally rolled in. As the shot fell and Brooklyn’s coach Jordi Fernandez called for a timeout, the rookie turned to the roaring crowd, veins bulging with intensity, and let out a triumphant yell before being swarmed by his teammates in celebration.
Scheierman was oozing confidence. After all, pulling up from 33 feet with a one-point lead in the fourth quarter takes guts.
Although head coach Joe Mazzulla downplayed any notion that Scheierman lacked confidence before, the transformation from the rookie we saw in the first 18 weeks of the season was undeniable.
“It comes with time. Confidence is kind of an overused term,” said Mazzulla. “I think, in reality, it’s like, this kid just got here. He’s been here for three months. Like, what do you expect him to look like 10 games in playing sporadically? He’s always had that confidence. I think a lot of it is a matter of timing. A lot of it’s a matter of opportunity. And a lot of it is the moments that you get, you’ve got to deliver, and you’ve got to impact winning.”
Time and opportunity have indeed played their parts. After all, Scheierman is still a rookie finding his way in the league, spending a good chunk of the season living out of a suitcase, shuttling between Boston and the G-League in Maine. He struggled to find his rhythm in his limited NBA appearances over his first five months, playing just 89.7 minutes over 15 games. During those games, he totaled only 12 points on 16.7% shooting (4-of-24) and a brutal 1-of-15 (6.7%) from three in mostly garbage time. Those struggles led to hesitation and uncertainty.
But with the Celtics all but locked into the two-seed, they’ve been staggering rest days. Boston has been without two of their top-six players in seven of their nine games this month and missing three or more in three of those games. This has given Scheierman a bigger opportunity to validate his work between Boston and Maine, where he appeared in 14 games (all starts), averaging 20.4 points on 42.1% shooting from the field, 40.8% from three, 6.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.5 steals. And he’s made the most of it.
In four appearances in March, the 24-year-old has more than tripled his career total entering the month, netting 38 points on 13-of-21 (61.9%) shooting from the field and 10-of-17 (58.8%) from three in just 68.8 minutes.
“He’s been great, honestly. You can tell, earlier in the season, he wasn’t as comfortable yet, which is completely normal, coming into a team like this,” Kristaps Porzizgis said. “The more experience he’s getting and being in Maine and playing in the G League and then coming back up again and getting another shot, and there you go. One thing you can’t say about him is he doesn’t play hard — he plays really hard, and I think the fans see that, and they appreciate that.”
That last part – playing hard – is precisely what Mazzulla is looking for from Scheierman. On most nights, his role in the offense isn’t going to be large. That’s the result of playing with guys like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and KPorzingis. Mazzulla has emphasized that for all young players, including Scheierman, the key is doing the things that contribute to winning beyond scoring—defending at a high level, rebounding, making the right reads, and executing the system on both ends of the floor.
After Scheierman made a game-high six threes at an 85.7% clip in Tuesday night’s win over the Nets, Mazzulla praised his efforts in those departments, adding the threes were a “plus.”
“It was more than the threes. He got some crashing, he got two big offensive rebounds for us, he got two steals, I think a deflection in the fourth quarter. Obviously, his threes helped,” said Mazzulla. “He’s just got to continue to make plays. The threes are a plus. To me, it was the defensive effort, the offensive rebounding, and the toughness that he played with.”
Scheierman has embraced his role, and as his opportunities have grown, so have his contributions in the areas Mazzulla emphasized. The 6-foot-6 rookie has boosted his steal and offensive rebound totals and matched his assist count from the previous five months in 21 fewer minutes in March. As a result, he’s beginning to earn Mazzulla’s trust in his ability to impact winning.
“He’s got a high level of toughness. He’s got a good basketball IQ,” said Mazzulla. “He’s got a chip on his shoulder and kind of like an F-you mentality to where he’s going to make it work. We saw that on some of his box-outs and some of his offensive rebounds. The threes were great, but I like the mindset and the toughness that he brought on both ends of the floor.”
Will these recent steps earn him playoff minutes? Probably not. Mazzulla, rather matter-of-factly, admitted that Scheierman’s opportunities will depend on the team’s health.
But these games are important. They provide a young player with valuable NBA experience and more film to work with over the season—especially crucial for a player who could very well become a fixture as soon as next season, given the looming record-breaking luxury tax bill.
It’s becoming more and more clear why Brad Stevens opted to stick and pick at number 30 in last year’s draft, taking on the two years of guaranteed money that come with a first-round pick.
Though the sample size is small, Scheierman is starting to resemble the player who made history as the only men’s player in Division I with at least 2,000 points (2,233), 1,000 rebounds (1,256), 500 assists (580), and 300 three-pointers (356), and with the financial constraints the Celtics are facing, his continued development is crucial.
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