BOSTON — A certain vertically challenged point guard spurred a fourth-quarter charge for the Celtics on Wednesday, and his name was not Isaiah Thomas.
This time, Phil Pressey was the one who took control.
With Thomas finally well enough to suit up after an eight-game stint on the injured list, Pressey was not expected to play much against the Miami Heat. Thomas’ return to action didn’t go nearly as well as the Celtics had hoped, however, prompting head coach Brad Stevens to sit him for the entirety of the fourth quarter and instead hand the reins over to Pressey.
The second-year pro did not disappoint.
Pressey checked in with 4:56 to play in the the third quarter and did not exit until just 13 seconds remained in the game. He compiled nine points, four assists, three rebounds, one steal and one block in the fourth quarter alone, helping the Celtics nearly erase a 22-point deficit in an eventual 93-86 loss.
“He was great,” Stevens said, “and he was worn out at the end, but he was still attacking and doing every little thing you could ever ask. He knew that he probably wasn’t going to be in the rotation, or at least the top eight or nine guys (Wednesday night), but he stayed ready, and when he was called upon gave us a chance to win the game.”
Even more important than Pressey’s statistical contributions was the jolt of energy he provided a Celtics team that had been stuck in neutral all night. Those playing with him fed off that energy — Marcus Smart, Jonas Jerebko, Luigi Datome and Pressey all played upward of 11 minutes in the fourth — and the result was a defensive effort that limited the Heat to just 11 points in the final frame.
“Defense,” Pressey said. “We tried to get as many stops as we could. I feel like that was even why we were able to (come) back. I feel like in the first half, we didn’t do that, and that’s why we got down so big.
“When you’re down by 20, you need everything to go your way. We put ourselves in that hole. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get some of the shots that we needed to go down.
Some additional notes from Wednesday’s action:
— The Heat played the game without starting shooting guard Dwyane Wade, starting center Hassan Whiteside and backup big man Chris Andersen, as injuries sidelined all three.
Most Celtics talked after the game about the absences not shaking their focus, but Thomas did admit that hearing such news before tipoff can lull a team into a false sense of security.
“No doubt,” Thomas said. “That’s with any team when their superstar’s not in there. I mean, you don’t go into the game saying that you’re going to let up, but that takes the pressure off you a little bit. They put their foot on the pedal and stomped on us (Wednesday night).
— UConn product and Roxbury, Mass., native Shabazz Napier logged nine minutes for the Heat while Miami’s primary reserve guard, Tyler Johnson, dealt with an ankle sprain.
Napier received a nice hand from the hometown crowd when he first checked in, and the rookie scored his only two points off this nifty sequence:
— Stevens has said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t do much schedule- and/or standings-watching, and that he seldom hears his players talking about that kind of stuff, either. He must not talk to Thomas much.
“I mean, I do,” the point guard said before the game. “I don’t know about anyone else. All I do is watch basketball, so I watch other guys, other teams’ games in the playoff hunt. I look at the schedule, I look at standings — all that. I’ve never been in this position before in a playoff race, really, so it’s fun. But it’s also hectic a little bit.”
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
