Marcus Morris may be ready for his debut with the Celtics this week, writes A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston. The 6’9 forward was acquired from the Pistons this summer in a deal for Avery Bradley, but has been unable to suit up because of soreness in his left knee. Morris had hoped to be ready for tomorrow’s game with the Spurs, but now Wednesday seems most likely.
“He needs to have at least a day of hard practice with our guys before he could play in a game,” said coach Brad Stevens. “That’s probably a little bit optimistic for Monday.” Morris didn’t travel with the team on its current road trip, staying in Boston for more treatments on the knee.
There’s more news out of Boston:
- Aron Baynes was an under-the-radar move in a newsworthy Celtics offseason, but he is turning out to be a valuable addition, Blakely writes in a separate story. The former Piston has provided a physical presence in the paint, something the team lacked last year. Baynes, who signed a one-year, $4.3MM deal, has started three of the six games so far and is averaging 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per night. “Everybody has their own role to play and value to add,” Stevens said. “He’s physical and tough.”
- There were concerns that Boston’s defense might decline after losing Jae Crowder and Bradley in offseason trades, but early-season numbers show an improvement, Blakely notes in another piece. The Celtics ranked third in the league heading into Saturday’s game with a defensive rating of 95.9. They are in the top 10 in steals, points off turnovers and effective field goal percentage. “It’s great team defense,” said Daniel Theis, who got his first start this week. “Two games in a row now, under 90 points, that’s really good defense.”
- Rookie forward Semi Ojeleye only plays about 11 minutes per night, but he gets the toughest defensive matchups when he’s on the court, writes Jay King of MassLive. A second-round pick in this year’s draft, Ojeleye earned a roster spot on the strength of his defense and the Celtics have taken advantage of that attribute since the season began. Ojeleye has found himself matched up with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kristaps Porzingis and LeBron James. “You just try to prepare, watch film, try to be always ready,” Ojeleye said. “You try to take it seriously, know their tendencies, and go out there and just do what you can.”
Baynes does a good job of going straight up on the initial contact, and then knowing how to get away with stuff on the way down, like swiping down on the hands and wrists and forearms. He also gives them that help on the glass that they missed
Amir Johnson is a good defender, but now they have more versatility on the floor at all times, which is something they didn’t always have last year at the 4 spot. Kyrie is terrible on that end, but he is an upgrade over Isaiah, and he has at least made some efforts there. Tatum has also benefited from playing at the 4, where he should be defensively, and he has gotten better at playing feet first defense and moving laterally. The Celtics have more size out there than they previously did, and can play more physical. Obviously that sounds weird when they lost Bradley and Crowder, but their wing depth is bigger than it was. I’d also say that it’s super early in the season, so it’s a short sample size. The season would also normally be starting now, and there was a shortened training camp, so teams will probably be a lot more in rhythm in the next week or 2
Actually, Irving has been pretty damn good on D this year, surprisingly. He’s 6th among all guards in Defensive Win Shares and 41st in Defensive Rating… Both of these are out of 180+ guards. Not too shabby.
That’s b/c he is on the court with good defenders around him. He has been able to get a bunch of deflections guarding off the ball. I also made mention that he has made efforts on that end. He moved his feet better defensively at times the last couple of games.
I accidentally downvoted you when I tried to reply, so I changed that to an upvote lol. But anyway, I anticipated the Celtics having an improved defense this year before training camp, as they brought in a bunch of good defenders, even the rookies, as mentioned with Ojeleye. Morris coming back will add to that, and give them more depth, as well as a needed veteran at the 4/on the wing
Tell you what, Baynes has been fantastic early on. He may not post the big numbers, but he does his job and plays in his role very effectively. That was a phenomenal signing this offseason by Danny Ainge. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite among Celtics Nation.