Celtics’ New-Look Bench Fueling Recent Hot Streak
After getting off to a slow start this season, the Boston Celtics have been playing great basketball lately. They’re 16-5 over their last 21 games, surging into third place in the Eastern Conference.
While Jaylen Brown deserves much of the credit for putting up MVP-caliber numbers in Jayson Tatum’s absence, the Celtics’ bench has also been phenomenal lately. That was the case again during Thursday night’s 120-106 road win over the Sacramento Kings, where Boston’s second unit scored 35 points in the first half and earned serious praise from Derrick White.
It was another strong effort from the Celtics’ bench, which leads the NBA in plus/minus and net rating since Dec. 1. Not surprisingly, Boston is 10-3 during that stretch.
Several Celtics reserves have stepped up over the last few weeks, including Sam Hauser, Luka Garza, Hugo Gonzalez and Anfernee Simons.
Hauser has snapped out of his early-season shooting funk, drilling 43.6 percent of his 3-pointers since Dec. 1 compared to 34.2 percent of his 3-pointers before that.
After barely playing for much of December, Garza has enjoyed a resurgence over the last two weeks, averaging 10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and a plus-13.5 in 22 minutes per game over his last six contests, helping Boston go 5-1 over that stretch.
Gonzalez led all NBA rookies in plus/minus in December, becoming the second-youngest rookie in franchise history to record a double-double after Jayson Tatum. Simons has been a consistent scorer off the bench, notching at least 11 points in six of his last seven games while playing improved defense.
The Celtics’ bench has been extra crucial this year with Tatum sidelined, helping take some of the load off Brown and the other starters. Several reserves have dramatically exceeded expectations in expanded roles, making the most of their opportunities this season in Joe Mazzulla’s evolving rotations.