With the short-handed Celtics defeating the Raptors 97-93 and the Bucks knocking off the Bulls, Boston has officially clinched the Atlantic Division for the second consecutive season, as well as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Marcus Smart, but were able to pull off the W on the back of Malcolm Brogdon.
Brogdon led the team with 29 points on a very efficient 10-for-19 (52.6%) shooting from the field and 4 of 6 (66.7%) from three, while also dishing out three assists and grabbing five rebounds. It was the third time this season Brogdon led the team in scoring, all of which he has come off the bench.
Brogdon has now scored 20-plus points off the bench in 18 games, which ranks second in the NBA. Brogdon has now recorded six games with at least 25 points off the bench this season, as he continues to strengthen his case for the NBA's Sixth Man of The Year Award — which seems to be a two-man race between Brogdon and Immanuel Quickley of the Knicks.
It's hard to pick against Brogdon. Though it is slim, Brogdon has the edge over Quickley in points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game and 3-point percentage, where Brogdon ranks fourth in the NBA.
"It would mean a lot," Joe Mazzulla said of Brogdon's candidacy. "He takes that pride in the second unit. In order to be a great team, you have to have people like that… I hope he gets it, he deserves it."
Whether or not Brogdon wins the award, you can't overstate how valuable he is to this Celtics team. Boston had been lacking a true scorer off the bench for a while. With Brogdon filling that role, it takes the team to another level.
"Malcolm, any given night, can come out and be one of the best players on the floor," Jaylen Brown said.
When you have a player like that, it makes a team so dangerous, especially in the case of the Celtics, who ranked 26th in scoring and assists in the regular season last year and were 14th in scoring in the playoffs.
The adjustment to the bench has not been easy for Brogdon, who has started in every game he played in over the last three seasons prior to joining the Celtics.
"Coming off the bench can be a challenge at times, to be honest," he said. "Having a career where you start your whole career and then you come off the bench, but that's where you got ot suck it up."
It was no secret to Brogdon that he would be coming off the bench when he got to Boston, but Brogdon embraced the role because it gave him a chance to do what he wanted to do.
"I want to win. The last two seasons for me were rough, not being able to win," he said. "I'm a winner… I want to be known as a winner when I'm done playing in this league, and I want to win at the highest level, and that's winning a championship, so being in Boston and being a Celtic fits me perfectly."
Though Brogdon knows the team has their eyes set on an NBA championship, he acknowledged postgame on Wednesday that being named Sixth Man of The Year would mean something.
"It would be great. I think it would be a testament to the team… We've got two All-Stars, probably two All-NBA guys, Derrick might make the All Defensive team," Brogdon said. "It would be another award for the team for sure, but that's not my focus, that's not the team's focus."
