Anyone who might have considered the Boston Celtics losers at the trade deadline likely is singing a different tune now.
The Celtics have gotten legitimate contributions from all three of their deadline acquisitions, including their most recent — and most surprising — breakout star, Luigi Datome.
Datome, who already is nearing cult hero status among Celtics fans, scored a season-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting Monday to help lead Boston to a 100-90 win over the Miami Heat.
The forward had scored 18 points all season entering Sunday. He now has 23 in his last two games alone.
“You can’t understand,” Datome told reporters after Monday’s game. “(After) maybe 50 games in Detroit of being inactive, DNP, I was saying after the game I will never take it for granted again, playing basketball.”
Not much was expected from the 27-year-old when he came over from the Detroit Pistons in the Tayshaun Prince trade. He appeared in just three games this season for the Pistons, after all, logging a grand total of 18 minutes.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he’s been impressed with Datome’s professionalism, however, and confident the newcomer would step up when called upon.
“I’m ultimately drawn to people that are just ultimate pros,” Stevens told reporters. “I said that about Gerald (Wallace), about how he’s handled being in and out of the lineup. Guys that don’t complain, guys that just come to work, guys that try to do their very best. But you still have to take advantage of your opportunity when it comes, and it’s hard to ignore what he’s done putting the ball in the basket the last two games.”
Some additional notes from Monday’s tilt:
— Brandon Bass ran into a bit of footwear trouble during the first quarter.
Sneaker issues aside, Bass had a solid all-around game. The forward finished with 14 points, a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.
— Celtics point guard Marcus Smart will not receive supplemental discipline from the NBA after being ejected from Sunday’s loss to the Orlando Magic, a league source told CSNNE’s A. Sherrod Blakely.
— Another Celtics player was ejected Monday, as Evan Turner was shown the door after getting into it with Heat guard (and ex-Celtic) Henry Walker with just 26 seconds remaining in the game. Walker also was tossed.
“During a jump ball, Mario (Chalmers) said, ‘Watch the elbows,’ ” Turner told reporters after the game. “And I said, ‘I wasn’t trying to elbow you. The game’s over.’ And then Bill Walker just came up and just pushed me, and that was it. He just pushed me, and I pushed him back, that was it. It had nothing to do with him, so I don’t know what occurred.”
— Speaking of ejections, Heat center Hassan Whiteside also was sent to an early shower after slamming Kelly Olynyk to the ground with an elbow to the back of the neck. Here was Olynyk’s take on the hit:
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— Datome predicted after the game that Twitter would get a kick out of him playing against Chalmers. He was correct.
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Thumbnail photo via Robert Mayer/USA TODAY Sports Images
