BOSTON - Brad Stevens wouldn't flat-out say it, but there's a feeling that Thursday night's starting lineup is going to be the one we see when the Celtics tip things off for real next Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers in the home opener.
Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, David Lee, and Tyler Zeller all got the start for the Celtics.
It also happens to be the same starting lineup the team used during their first two preseason games overseas.
The Celtics still don't have a superstar scorer on their team, but the addition of Lee adds a scoring big to the mix - and gives them a nice option on the offensive end to start things off, something they didn't have last year and at times struggled to get things going offensively.
"If we decide to start that first unit like today, that unit's got a nice chemistry," Brad Stevens said. "David [Lee] kind of handles passes and directs and Tyler does what Tyler does and the guards are great cutters. When David has the ball there's a lot of cutting. A lot of movement. And they all have skill. So that's a nice combination and I think you could throw a number of guys into those combinations and it fits well but I think the idea of having another facilitator or skilled big is helpful in that regard."
It's also helpful when you consider the players around Lee, Crowder and Bradley, are more of the defensive mindset. Lee, although not due to effort, isn't known to be a good defender.
"He has a lot of savviness on the offensive end being able to take guys off the dribble at the [power forward] position and make the right pass, make the right play," Crowder said.
Boston built a 19-point lead before allowing the Knicks to climb back into it in the second half. But a lot of that first-half success had to do with pushing the pace. Both Lee and Zeller can run the floor, which gives the C's a nice tempo.
"Our unique ability to get out and run [makes the starting lineup effective]," Smart said. "David Lee can get the ball and push the ball ahead. It puts pressure on the defense because now one of the forwards is bringing the ball up and making plays. It gives us guards momentum to run off the screen and run off the handoffs."
The team has one more game Friday up in Manchester, NH, but it's to be determined which players - if any - will sit out. Avery Bradley suffered a bruised shin Thursday night and said it was "sore" after the game, so he could get Friday off which would change the starting lineup.
But Stevens sounded as if he's seen enough out of this unit to go ahead and start them next Wednesday, and a 99-85 win over the Knicks, albeit in a preseason game, is a positive after losing to them last week with a different starting unit.
"Just playing off one another," Crowder said. "On the offensive end and defensively we're trying to be on a string. All five guys on the same page, knowing exactly what we want to do. Right now we have a great sense of urgency within ourselves so we are trying to click right now, we just got to keep working at it."