Jordan Mickey's Block Party Energizes Garden In Celtics' Win Over Grizzlies
BOSTON (CBS) -- Jordan Mickey is not getting many playing opportunities on a deep Celtics' roster, but he's still giving Boston fans plenty to be excited about.
The latest flash of potential came in the closing moments of Boston's 116-96 win over the Grizzlies on Wednesday night. The rookie out of LSU was summoned for some garbage time minutes, but got the Garden buzzing with three consecutive blocks, including one on his former LSU teammate Jarell Martin.
The outburst pushed Mickey's block output to nine in just 27 minutes of action on the season and that type of output has impressed several of his veteran teammates, including Jae Crowder.
The second-round pick has spent the majority of his season with the Maine Red Claws, where's he put up All-Star level stats over 21 contests. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 17.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, and a league leading 4.7 blocks per game in the D-League.
However, after putting together solid production in spot minutes for the Celtics over the past month, it's unclear whether he will be sent up north for more seasoning, even after Kelly Olynyk returns from his shoulder injury.
"I just thought we needed a boost and I thought that every time we put him in, he's blocked a shot and came up with some loose balls," Brad Stevens said last Monday after Mickey played nine minutes against the Jazz. "He was in Maine for a long time and then he had the ankle [injury], so he's probably not as up to speed as he needs to be on some things that we'll get him up to speed on as he continues to be with us more and more. But hey, we're not overly deep at the big spot without Kelly."
On a team that's full of young prospects at the bottom of the roster, Mickey could prove to be the piece that holds the most promise in the future. For now though, he remains a nice insurance policy for Stevens to have at the end of the bench.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter@CelticsHub.
