Boston Celtics starting center Daniel Theis knows he needs to do more than help create seals to get his teammates a lane to the basket and pull down rebounds.
He also needs to use his shooting against bigs who can outmuscle him in the paint.
“It’s very important, especially a team like [the] Toronto [Raptors] or Milwaukee [Bucks], they pack the paint so much,” offered Theis after the win over the Raps. “I’ve got to space of course sometimes, like today in the corner …my team trusts me and I’ve got to knock down the shot.”
The results of what can happen when the Salzgitter native connects often enough to pull those bigs just a few feet away from the basket were on display on Friday, as Theis’ shooting made life difficult for Raptors center Marc Gasol.
It nearly got them the win against the league-leading Bucks, too.
“I think it’s important that he’s a threat,” explained Celtics head coach Brad Stevens after the win over Toronto. “He doesn’t chuck all night, he picks and chooses the right ones. He is more than capable of making it, but he also knows when to flip it to a guard that’s behind him.”
Boston made it clear they are a legitimate title threat when everyone plays their role on both ends of the floor, and for Theis to be an effective starting center at 6-foot-8, he’s got to be enough of a threat to draw those bigs out of the paint.
While his shooting is certainly not the most important part of Boston’s offense in a direct way, it does make life easier for the rest of his teammates n a big way.
And for the Celtics to continue rolling other teams the way they have in their last two contests, they’ll Theis to shoot the 3 early, and often.
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