BOSTON - Terry Rozier played more minutes than any of the Boston Celtics’ reserves on Thursday, an achievement that usually goes to Isaiah Thomas.
Rozier isn’t close to playing into making us forget about Thomas who was held out due to a shin injury.
But make no mistake about it.
With minutes, Rozier has shown he can impact games and Thursday was no exception as the 6-foot-2 rookie came up with big plays in the fourth quarter in helping Boston defeat New York 99-85.
Rozier played just under 23 minutes and finished with eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
In the fourth, Rozier hit back-to-back 3s with each putting the Celtics ahead by double digits.
“He did a lot of good things,” said Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.
Boston Celtics
To see him step up and deliver big shots in the fourth quarter was not all that surprising to Stevens.
“He’s made big shots in the fourth quarter of Summer League games,” Stevens said. “And these games now, pretty consistently. I think he can be a really good player, but like Marcus (Smart), he’s got to continue to improve.”
Here are the Stars, Studs and Duds from Thursday’s game.
STARS
Jared Sullinger
It was a night of redemption for the 6-9 forward who has seen his role significantly diminished compared to where it has been in past years. His play around the rim was a major factor in Boston fending off a fourth quarter surge by the Knicks. Sullinger finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Marcus Smart
Smart had a really strong floor game, especially in the first half which is when he tallied eight of his game-high nine assists. The 6-foot-4 guard also had eight points and two rebounds.
STUDS
Tyler Zeller
There may not be a more under-the-radar performer on this Boston Celtics team than Zeller who turned in yet another solid outing on Thursday. He played just under 20 minutes but still finished with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting to go with five rebounds and an assist.
Jae Crowder
This was one of those strong two-way performances that the Celtics will need plenty of this season from Crowder. In addition to scoring 13 points and grabbing seven rebounds, Crowder did an exceptional job defending Carmelo Anthony who had just eight points while missing 14 of his 18 shot attempts from the field.
DUDS
Celtics free throw shooting
This game would have been a sure-fire blowout if Boston didn’t have such a sub-par night shooting from the line. The Celtics connected on just 68.8 percent (11-for-16) of their free throws. But as bad as they were, the Knicks were even worst in making 61.5 percent (16-for-26) of their attempts from the free throw line.
Derek Fisher
Decision-making of late hasn’t exactly been a strength of Derek Fisher, and Thursday was no exception. With about nine minutes to play, Fisher decided to bring his starters back on the floor down eight points. Such a call soon backfired as the Boston Celtics’ youngsters – they had three rookies, a seldom used second year player and a fringe rotation big who was undersized – were able to actually increase Boston’s lead to double digits before Fisher decided to take his starters off the floor with 2:27 to play as Boston maintained a firm grip on the game and left with a double-digit win.