You know it isn’t a typical game when Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is willing to tell you his starting lineup.
And that’s exactly what ended up happening ahead of the team’s preseason road opener with the Philadelphia 76ers on the evening of Dec. 15, somewhere in the bowels of the Sixers’ home arena. At the Celtics’ first game in a normal NBA arena (albeit sans fans) since the start of the pandemic hiatus in March, the former Butler chief decided to break with his practice of keeping his starters close to the vest until the league requires disclosure.
Daniel Theis to sit vs 76ers; supports Celtics’ COVID-19 protocols https://t.co/MFJcbtFdKp
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 15, 2020
“We’ll do it in the preseason,” said Stevens with a hint of mirth.
“We’ll start [Marcus] Smart, Jaylen [Brown] Jayson [Tatum], Javonte Green and Robert Williams,” he added, the Time Lord standing in for teammate Daniel Theis, who ruled himself out of the contest with a sore lower back earlier in the day.
One could almost hear the surprise for Green in particular, who has only started in two regular season games in his career to date. Asked why the Radford product was getting the nod, Stevens replied “We’re going to rotate that spot”.
CLAB 23: Predictions and projections for the Celtics’ 2020-21 campaign https://t.co/ZGXyh1dkSD
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) December 15, 2020
Is this a hint of how the Celtics will find the supporting cast they need? Or simply an artifact of the preseason and games which do not impact playoff seeding?
While we may not get an answer to that latter question, that we are already seeing a much more freewheeling and experimental Brad Stevens than we are accustomed to is at very least incredibly intriguing.
Whether it lasts past Dec. 23 when Boston takes on the Milwaukee Bucks remains to be seen, but an aggressive approach to getting players who have shown flash without the minutes to develop it like Williams and Green can only bode well for the future.
