One of the more endearing qualities of this Boston Celtics team has been their ability to take that whole “next man up” mantra to heights few imagine.
It speaks to how Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has constructed a roster where there’s very little separation between the starters and the second unit players.
So when someone goes down out of the first group, the next man up has little problem stepping in to fill the void.
But not having Jae Crowder (high ankle sprain, out at least two weeks) in the lineup for tonight’s game at Indiana is another matter entirely.
Isaiah Thomas is Boston’s best scorer. Jared Sullinger is the leading rebounder and Avery Bradley is arguably their best defender.
But when you combine all those traits, Crowder stands head and shoulders above the rest of his teammates.
He is Boston’s do-it-all glue guy, a player who has shown the ability to make a major impact at both ends of the floor with a high level of consistency.
Boston Celtics
And in late-game situations, Crowder isn’t the least bit hesitant to take a big shot – regardless of how he has shot the ball previously – or come up with a much-needed rebound, the huge stop defensively or the clutch hustle play.
And while any matchup without him would present a variety of challenges, facing the Pacers who are led by Paul George?
It doesn’t get much tougher than that, unless you look at who the Celtics face Wednesday night – Oklahoma City, led by former league MVP Kevin Durant.
And then there’s Friday night’s game at Toronto which features All-Star wing DeMar DeRozan.
If there was ever a stretch of games that Crowder’s presence was needed desperately, this would be it.
“That’s this league,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told reporters earlier this week. “That’s why long, athletic, versatile guys are in such demand in this league. We’ll see how it all plays itself out and pans out. We’ve got a lot of good players. It’s a great opportunity for them and it’s a great opportunity for some of our younger players maybe to take a more pivotal role than they have so far.”
Stevens has not tipped his hand as to who will start in place of Crowder, but it’ll likely be Evan Turner or Marcus Smart.
While Turner has certainly played well enough to be inserted in the starting lineup, the Celtics may opt to instead go with Smart who would provide a similar defensive presence to what they are used to with Crowder as a starter.
As for Boston’s younger players, R.J. Hunter, Terry Rozier or James Young might see spot duty tonight as well.
“Us young guys have to always stay ready,” Hunter told CSNNE.com. “And I think we all have. We don’t know when our number’s going to be called. But we know because we have stayed ready, done some good things when we’ve gotten a chance to play, coach (Stevens) doesn’t have to worry about us being ready when he needs us.”