The Boston Celtics didn’t expect to enter the preseason without two of their most important players.
But after Rajon Rondo went down with a broken hand and Jeff Green strained his calf in a scrimmage, head coach Brad Stevens has had to do some reorganizing of his starting lineup.
Neither Rondo nor Green has played in the Celtics’ first preseason games — rookie James Young also missed the second — forcing Boston to go into what Stevens called “kind of mix-and-match mode.”
The second-year head coach said he isn’t worried, though — not yet.
“I think if it goes past this week, the frustration will certainly mount more,” Stevens said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Gresh & Zolak” on Friday. “But it’s given great opportunities for other guys to play. The way that I look at it is if Jeff and Rondo, when they get back to playing, if they can continue to do what they’ve always done, and get right into this thing, then I think we’ve got a chance to be playing good basketball at the start of the season. That’s ultimately what we want to be doing because the start of our season we play some contenders early on.”
The player who’s had to step up the most thus far is Evan Turner, who’s spent time at both Green’s spot on the wing and Rondo’s point guard spot through the first two games. Turner scored 15 points in Monday’s preseason opener and added nine more on 4-of-8 shooting Wednesday in a win over the New York Knicks.
As for that part about playing some contenders early on? Seven of the Celtics’ first eight regular-season opponents reached the playoffs last season, and the eighth, LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers, is a near lock to join that club this spring.
Photo via Elise Amendola/Associated Press
