Could Baylor Scheierman Emerge as Playoff Contributor for Celtics?

Baylor Scheierman returned to the Celtics lineup on Sunday — and after halftime, he joined the starters in place of Payton Pritchard. Pritchard wasn’t hurt, he returned to the floor six minutes later, perhaps to correct a first half where a rare start put him in foul trouble, or to assess how the rookie Scheierman would fit with Boston’s regulars. It’s a growing question as the Celtics’ season winds down and Scheierman’s heats up.

Could his late season emergence grow into something more than promise toward next season?

“To me, I always like changing the starting lineup, not always, but when we’re in these disadvantaged situations of not having 2-3 guys, I think it can change the dynamics of the first five minutes of a half or a quarter,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Portland. “He played well and I felt like he was giving us good stuff.”

In the second-most minutes of his rookie season, 26, Scheierman posted six points, five rebounds and three assists while shooting 2-for-5 from three. That extended a 12-for-26 March (46.2%) behind the line while, more importantly, showcasing other ways Boston can utilize his skillset in a 129-116 win over a mostly healthy Blazers team that won four straight games prior.

The extra opportunities gave Scheierman the chance to run possessions, something he didn’t even display in his 20-point breakout performance against Brooklyn last week. He assisted on his first touch, attacking Duop Reath’s closeout and kicking back to Derrick White for three. Scheierman’s shooting, rebounding and playmaking abilities initially appeared strong enough to impact the Celtics immediately when he was drafted.

Two possessions later, he pushed the ball in transition and found Sam Hauser for three. Another skip pass set Jayson Tatum up to find Luke Kornet on an alley-oop before he drove-and-kicked to Hauser for three playing off White with Tatum taking a breather.

The Celtics held the line (+0) in the first half in Scheierman’s minutes. During that time, Boston made a lineup built around Tatum, Scheierman, JD Davison, Torrey Craig and Kornet work with Pritchard in foul trouble. While hardly proof of concept that Scheierman can contribute in larger spots, recent games at least showed a desire by Mazzulla to find some small-ball options for a team that played large all season.

Some of Scheierman’s playing time stemmed from a DNP-CD for Neemias Queta, and though Mazzulla will often point to matchups as the reason for those decisions, the Celtics’ success against the Nets that came while going away from double-big served as a reminder that those units might not match up ideally against every potential playoff opponent. More small-ball followed in each game since. Mazzulla also experimented with taking centers off the floor entirely in the past two games, playing White, Davison, Hauser, Scheierman and Tatum late in the first quarter on Sunday. On Friday, it was Pritchard, Hauser, Scheierman, Craig and Tatum in that spot.

“You gotta be able to go to different things,” Mazzulla said last Tuesday. “They did a great job of playing with speed, our spacing, our dribble-drive, it opened up the floor a little bit … we just gotta work as many lineups as we can, as many identities as we can … can we play a little bit faster? Can we open it up?”

Mazzulla mentioned on the radio before a recent game that he never wants to end up in a situation where he needs to go to something the Celtics hadn’t tried. That more than anything likely explained Scheierman’s recent ascension with Boston as close as a lock to finish as the No. 2 seed as possible. Mazzulla still stresses winning above all else every night, but Sunday became the latest heavy rest night for the team late in its schedule. Jaylen Brown remained out with a knee injury ahead of further evaluation on Monday. Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday rested. The Celtics already mostly know what Queta gives them. Scheierman provides some unknown.

Boston expected some impact similar to what he displayed this week when the team drafted him No. 30 overall at 24-years-old. Instead, a 16.7% shooing performance in the preseason landed him in Maine to begin the year, where he mostly played full time despite an initial thought he’d take things week-to-week. There, he enjoyed being able to play freely and consistently, before returning to Boston in full in January. The biggest difference, aside from learning some terminology, catching up to the speed of the game and gaining weight, mostly came in shot-making. But the odds are heavily against a player who averaged less than 10 minutes per game in his rookie regular season emerging as a postseason contributor. It would be borderline unprecedented.

Prior to his recent surge, Scheierman started his NBA career 1-for-15 through 15 brief appearances. Between his last two strong outings, he finished scoreless and shot 0-for-4 at Utah. Jordan Walsh could also earn some looks down the stretch, though his standing on the roster has dwindled as the season progressed.

If the Celtics want to play small in the playoffs, Hauser still presents the best path to doing so. Following concerns over his lingering back injury, he’s played in 22 of the team’s last 23 games while shooting 58-for-126 from three (46%) after an 8-for-10 eruption in Portland. Hauser has NBA Finals experience and success, and while he and Scheierman play different games and can play together, the playoffs would likely accentuate Scheierman’s biggest point of improvement that Hauser took years to perfect. Surviving on an island when defenses try to pick on you over and over. Mazzulla likes how he’s handling that early.

“The thing I really like about him is his toughness. He’s got a high level of toughness. He’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Mazzulla said. “Kind of like an F-U mentality to where he’s just gonna make it work. You saw that on some of his box-outs, some of his offensive rebounds. Again, the threes were great, but I liked the mindset and the toughness that he brought on both ends of the floor.”