WALTHAM, Mass. — Playing time will be scarce for Phil Pressey this preseason.
The second-year point guard is buried on the Boston Celtics’ depth chart at the one even with starter Rajon Rondo out, and the two players ahead of him — Marcus Smart and Evan Turner — are still adjusting to playing the position at the NBA level.
It might surprise some, then, that Pressey garnered some of the most positive reviews after the Celtics’ preseason opener Monday night.
Pressey didn’t see his first action until very late in the second quarter and played just 13 total minutes in Boston’s 98-78 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, but his impact on the game was obvious.
“He’s an energy-raiser,” head coach Brad Stevens said before Tuesday’s practice. “You always know that if you don’t like the tempo, Phil can change the tempo of a game. Some people can change a game with a six-point run on a couple of 3-pointers (Celtics guard Marcus Thornton would fit that description), some people can change a game with their defensive presence. He can change the tempo with his push.”
Stevens noted that Pressey was “really good” on the defensive end, as well, helping limit an inexperienced but athletic Philadelphia team to just 13 points in the fourth quarter.
Pressey’s contributions at both ends were evident on the score sheet: Although he played the third-fewest minutes of any active Celtics on Monday, his plus-15 plus-minus rating ranked third on the team behind Turner (plus-19) and Kelly Olynyk (plus-17).
“He sat there for the better part of three quarters,” Stevens said, “and (the Sixers) ran a couple of actions that they ran pretty consistently, and by the second time they ran it against him, he had sniffed it out, watched and learned. He handled it better than probably anybody else did the entire night.”
Pressey’s playing time will fluctuate perhaps more than that of any other Celtics player this season, but that’s nothing new for him. In the 75 games Pressey appeared in during his rookie campaign, he saw the floor for fewer than 10 minutes 21 times, between 10 and 20 minutes 36 times and upward of 20 minutes on 18 occasions, including playing a career-high 42 in the season finale.
“I just feel like that’s my role on the team,” he said Tuesday. “I said last year, it doesn’t matter how many minutes I play, I’m going to try to come in and affect the game and bring energy to the team. I can’t really tell you how many minutes I’m going to play, but when I’m in there, I’m going to bring energy.”
Photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
