Robb: Brad Stevens May Shake Up Celtics' Lineup In Wake Of Losing Streak
BOSTON (CBS) -- Expectations have been raised in the third year of the Brad Stevens' tenure in Boston. No better indicator of that fact is apparent than with the team's reaction to a ugly three-game losing streak this past week.
On the surface, things seem to be going to plan for Boston in year three of rebuilding. The Celtics are still above the .500 mark with a respectable 14-13 clip and that pace is an improvement on last year's 40-42 record.
That kind of progress combined with the extended absence of Marcus Smart (left knee injury) for the past few weeks might leave fans willing to give the young roster to give the benefit of the doubt as it treads water until the team returns to full strength.
In a hyper-competitive Eastern Conference though, that's not the kind of patience that Brad Stevens has at the moment. His squad is 1 1/2 games out of the playoffs and can't afford to slip down any further in the standings in the interim.
With the team getting inconsistent performances out of bench players such as Kelly Olynyk, David Lee, and Jonas Jerebko during the slide, the head coach indicated it might be time for the team to shake up the rotation at Saturday's practice.
"We might have to," said Stevens of a potential shakeup. "We'll see. I'm going to let practice bear itself out. We'll practice again [this weekend] to see how we look at feel. We've got a long film session so we'll see. But we may have to.
"It's one of the things that we've talked about. If we're going to talk about our depth being a positive, then we should utilize it. So we'll see. We'll see what we think is best, not only for this particular game, but more so as we move forward. Obviously, as we get closer to having Marcus Smart back, that's a positive. But we can't rely on that."
Smart is expected to return from his knee injury around the start of the New Year. He resumed on-court activities earlier this week, but the team will surely be cautious with his progress as he works his way back into game shape. Stevens indicated the second-year guard will be on a minutes limit when he is ready too, so his value to the team may be limited initially.
Still, teammates like Evan Turner have left no question that the team could use a boost from his defensive versatility and spirit in spurts.
"I have the utmost respect for Smart as a competitor," he said. "He'll definitely help, because his intangibles are great. Certain games we needed something, defensively, somehow he ended up with a loose ball or a charge, or damn near a fight. So obviously Smart's going to come back."
In the meantime, the Celtics have to hold down the fort for a couple weeks and keep themselves firmly entrenched in the playoff race. One of the ways to do that might be mixing things up in the frontcourt.
What exactly would that involve shaking up? The biggest shift could be the return of Tyler Zeller to the regular playing rotation. The seven-footer scored a season-high 12 points against the Pistons on Wednesday night, but found himself glued to the bench yet again Friday, as has been the case for the majority of contests this year. With Lee and Olynyk not being reliable options for Stevens though, Zeller may get a bigger opportunity like he saw last season.
Despite Stevens raising the possibility of making such a move, Turner remains confident in the guys that got the Celtics to this point during the young season.
"Obviously everything seems worse when you lose three games in a row," Turner explained. "You seem like you're in the pits. But you've just got to be accountable and get back on the right track. And that's it. We'll be fine. Just not panic and overthink it. It has to come from within us. Not so much from Coach so much as in the players holding each other accountable and getting outside ourselves."
Turner and his teammates will have an opportunity to silence the panic this weekend, but the Coach's patience is wearing thin and Danny Ainge has shown he's not afraid of making moves either. Progress must be shown or changes will surely be imminent, whether it comes in the form of a lineup change or a trade.
"It's 82 games," Stevens said. "I think the biggest thing is, if you don't have grit in this thing, if you don't have some perseverance about you, you're in trouble. You'd better have some enthusiasm you can create on your own.
"You'd better have some real endurance to you. And it's not for the weak. Teams will fade away and some teams will get stronger. That's to be determined. We'll find out."
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.