The Boston Celtics already knew their playoff fate entering Wednesday night’s regular-season finale. So did the Milwaukee Bucks, who had clinched the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, one higher than the Celtics.
So, what did that all mean? A whole lot of Gigi Time, that’s what.
With Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder all sitting out, Celtics reserve Luigi Datome was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in his NBA career.
The Italian forward got off to a slow start but came alive after halftime, scoring 19 of his career-high 22 points in the second half to lead Boston to a 105-100 win over the Bucks in Milwaukee.
“I thought he was timid at the start, but I thought he was really good down the stretch,” head coach Brad Stevens told reporters after the game. “Obviously, he made big shots and big plays, got some hands on some rebounds. And we talked about it all year, that we want to be the type of team that can just plug guys in if somebody’s missing, and play and play well.”
Datome, hailed by Stevens earlier this season as the best shooter on the team, went 9-for-15 from the floor and 3-for-7 from 3-point range, obviously taking advantage of a massive uptick in playing time.
His 27 minutes played also represented a career-high and surpassed his total from the last eight games combined.
“I knew today would be one of those games that I could stay on the court, just play with a little bit of freedom, a little bit less pressure, and it helped. It helped me.”
Datome likely won’t see much (if any) playing time once the Celtics begin their first-round playoff series with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, but he again proved he’s capable of providing points in a pinch if need be.
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Some additional notes from Wednesday’s finale:
— It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Kelly Olynyk. The Celtics big man, who still carries the remnants of the gnarly black eye he suffered earlier this month, had to leave Wednesday’s game in the fourth quarter after taking a shot to the top of the head.
The impact left Olynyk with a gash on his scalp that required five stitches to close. Don’t worry, though: The flow remained intact.
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“I don’t know if he got scratched or elbowed, or whatever the case may be, but it opened up, so they had to stitch it up, from what I’ve been told,” said Stevens, who added that Olynyk had undergone concussion tests. “He was fine; he felt fine as far as alertness and everything else, from what I was told. (Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte) and our doctors will go through all of that stuff and make sure he’s fine, but he wasn’t going to go back in.”
— Most NBA teams are thankful there are no back-to-backs in the playoffs. Not the Celtics.
In its final 12 two-games-in-two-nights scenarios this season, Boston won the second game 11 times, including Wednesday night.
“Going 11-1 during any stretch is hard,” Stevens said. “Winning is hard. We tried to make it an emphasis. I didn’t realize that if we made it an emphasis it’d be so good. Maybe we should try to emphasize some other things.”
Thumbnail photo via Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports Images
