Celtics Bench Questions Emerge Again in Pacers Loss Ahead of Deadline

The Celtics rested Jayson Tatum and Sam Hauser’s shoulder held him out of the second half of their mini series with the Pacers on Tuesday, a fresh opportunity for Boston’s bench depth, the Stay Ready crew, to prove themselves capable of rotation minutes in the absence of players above them. That became Luke Kornet, Oshae Brissett, Dalano Banton and Svi Mykhailiuk in a controversial 133-131 loss headlined by a successful Indiana challenge that overturned a Buddy Hield foul on Jaylen Brown in a tie game with three seconds remaining. The Pacers would’ve lost their final timeout if the call stood.

Beyond the frustration of that moment, which irritated both Brown and Joe Mazzulla, Monday’s loss again flashed the inconsistency and limitations of the Celtics’ reserves. They’ve largely thrived with a fully healthy roster in place, allowing Hauser, Kornet and Payton Pritchard to play limited minutes next to starters. Hauser and Pritchard, and Kornet in certain matchups, thrived when asked to step into the rotation spot above theirs. Brissett flashed more offensive rebounding, defensive flashes and the ability to attack defenses playing away from him, while Banton fouled three times early and Mykhailiuk split four free throws in his lone stint. Kornet finished -3 and Horford -9.

“They lead the league in bench points,” Mazzulla said after Indiana outscored Boston, 75-27, in bench points. “And 40% of their points come from the bench. Little plays, whether it’s knocking the ball out of bounds, whether it’s getting a loose ball, whether it’s deflecting a pass or right-handed drives … pure emotion, pure hustle. They made some tough shots … their role guys stepped up and made big shots. I thought Mathurin hit some timely threes, I thought Hield hit a couple of timely threes, the step-back in the corner, the contested three … the way (McConnell) affects the game are intangible things. You have to just pay attention to the intangibles. He gets out in transition, he gets deflections, he makes passes harder on defense.”

The Celtics like their bench, further affirming that’s the case by guaranteeing Kornet, Banton, Mykhailiuk and Lamar Stevens’ contracts in full for the rest of the season, according to multiple reports. Only Pritchard boasts significant playoff playing time with the Celtics in that group. While guarantees leave room for flexibility made clear in Brad Stevens’ commentary last week, he also narrowed Boston’s likely additions to lower-cost, complimentary players similar to the Mike Muscala addition. Muscala arrived in line to replace Robert Williams III or another big lost in case of injury, and though nobody could capably fill in for Tatum, even Hauser’s absence proved glaring during Monday’s loss.

Pritchard’s reemergence remains arguably the most unsung story of this Celtics season, defending well, scoring 14 points with three assists while shooting 4-of-5 from three. He also flashed a smooth hesitation move on the right wing, free himself to get downhill and drop off a pass to Brown for a cutting score. Brissett’s night started strong with a steal, pair of free throws, offensive rebound and three, before finishing 1-for-4 with three fouls and missing 3-of-4 at the line into the second half. His take foul in the back court added two points to Indiana’s 7-0 run to close the third.

“Boston’s a great team. They’re almost impossible guard even without Tatum,” Rick Carlisle said. “They’ve got the shooting, they’ve got the playmaking at so many possessions, but in order to beat them, you’ve got to outlast them somehow … that’s what we did. We outlasted them. (Mathurin) is one guy on our team that has the special ability to go get a shot anytime he wants to. The last play of regulation, we were going to him to get aggressive, try to get downhill, they took the foul … T.J. did a great job of getting him the ball on the following play and we had no one else on our team that could create that kind of look in that kind of a foul situation. His abilities are special … he’s a starter.”

The Celtics, who lost 29-18 in bench points to a similar Thunder team that attacked in waves a week earlier, watched Tyrese Haliburton exit for the game with a hamstring injury minutes before halftime. Indiana had lost its minutes with Haliburton off the floor by 4.8 points per 100 possessions prior to Monday, while Boston found ways to thrive with Tatum off the floor (+6.8). The Celtics often went double-big in those situations, especially to open games with Horford next to Kristaps Porzingis.

That alignment fared well (+10.1) too, but against the Pacers’ mix of smaller lineups and larger ones with Jalen Smith at the four. Boston’s double-big units with Horford and Kornet got spread out and posted by Indiana’s fast-paced attack. McConnell maneuvered around Porzingis. Mathurin scored 26 points on 8-for-15 shooting.

Boston relinquished that skillset from its bench by trading Malcolm Brogdon, along with the ability to court more dynamic double-big units, to great avail. No team can match the Celtics’ top-six, but deeper teams have now shown an ability to withstand those starting rotations and steal points in key stretches, including the 33-19 stretch to begin the third that overcame an 11-point deficit.

They stole three more points against Pritchard, Mykhailiuk, Horford, Kornet and Derrick White to begin the fourth, found ways to shake Boston’s zone looks with offensive rebounding and passing that shook an occasionally disconnected Celtics defense trying new combinations.

Boston plans to search for additions that could bolster those rotations, admitting they won’t be easy to find.

“Our tools are pretty limited,” Stevens said last week. “From a dollars standpoint. (We have the) green light to do whatever we need to do, for sure, and that TPE, that’s really the No. 1 tool we have. The ability to add somebody, but that’s $6.2 million, right, that’s a small number of people, a lot of the people in that are signed to minimums or smaller contracts, or are on their rookie scale deals that teams aren’t exactly excited to move on from yet. It’s a very small group of people, but we’re gonna exhaust it, we’re gonna look at it … who can come in and have the self awareness to add to the group? And the talent to add to the group.”