One of the remarkable things about the Celtics' ascension has been the contributions they're getting outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are doing more than just anchoring the defense. Al Horford has been an excellent No. 5 starter, complementing the other four by doing a little bit of everything. Derrick White is performing similarly off the bench, aside from his shooting struggles. Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard and Daniel Theis continue to contribute in their own respective ways, too.
But what happens when the postseason rolls around? Sure, the players don't need to waste any of their focus on that. They're still trying to earn the best position they can in the Eastern Conference standings.
However, Ime Udoka doesn't have the same luxury.
While it might seem like the Celtics should keep turning to the same group that's rolled through this run, things change come playoff time. Teams usually tighten up rotations for the postseason, with starters usually logging more minutes. That can impact the effectiveness of reserves, who log less time and also might have more challenging matchups than usual.
So where does that rotation stand in the eyes of Boston's head coach?
"We kind of slimmed it down to eight for a while. That's before Daniel and Derrick came" Udoka said after Wednesday's blowout win over the Jazz. "So, we're comfortable with that nine, 10, and Aaron (Nesmith) is getting back now, so we can go 10 deep, obviously. But when the minutes do increase, it'll shave some off other guys.
"But at the same time, when Payton is playing as well as he is, we don't mind running him longer, taking some minutes from Marucs. It's just a different dynamic that he brings into the game, on both sides of the ball. So, comfortable with nine, 10, no doubt. We'll see where it goes. But I love spinning that three-man big rotation, Grant kind of being the fourth guy there. But a lot of versatility. We can go small, big. Looked at a lot of different lineups (against Utah) and switched up some matchups, so we're still trying to figure out some things as far as that and kind of tinker with things going forward."
Tatum and Brown aside, it seems like Udoka is setting the precedent of riding either the hot hands or the best fits for particular opponents moving forward rather than solely rely on the most respected names on the roster. Smart to set a precedent now because that sure sounds like the right approach.
