The Boston Celtics have taken great pride in being a team that can play position-less basketball.
But this is not what they had in mind.
We have seen Boston short-handed in the backcourt, but nothing quite like what we’ll see tonight against the Milwaukee Bucks now that Terry Rozier (left ankle) has been ruled out of tonight’s game against the Bucks.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters that Kadeem Allen will get his first NBA start tonight.
“He knows what we’re doing. He’s a really good defensive point guard, he can handle the ball, get us into spots. He’s had games where he really scored the ball well in the G-League,” Stevens said. “And I thought he gave us good minutes the other night. I feel comfortable with Kadeem.”
Allen, drafted by the Celtics with the 53rd overall pick in last June’s NBA draft, was signed as one of Boston’s two, two-way players.
For the Celtics he has appeared in 12 games where he averaged 0.4 points, 0.3 assists and 0.3 rebounds per game while shooting 16.7 percent from the field.
Boston Celtics
Allen has spent most of this season with Boston’s Gatorade League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.
He has appeared in 34 games, averaging 17.7 points, 4.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 30.0 percent from 3-point range.
As for Rozier, Stevens said he’s at about 80-85 percent good health right now.
“We’re not playing him if he’s not better than that,” Stevens said. “Obviously with six games left and with our health situation being what it is, Terry’s gonna have a lot of minutes ahead. So we want him to feel great.”
In addition to Rozier, the Celtics will continue to be without Kyrie Irving (left knee), Marcus Smart (right thumb) and Shane Larkin (flu).
There’s a chance that Larkin could join the team in Toronto tomorrow, but Irving and Smart will remain out for the rest of the regular season with Irving likely to begin basketball-related activities at some point in Boston’s first-round series. Smart’s return will likely be sometime in the second round if the Celtics move past their first-round foe.