Jonas Jerebko Will See More Starts At Power Forward For Celtics, Brad Stevens Says
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) – Amir Johnson has been a fixture in the Celtics starting lineup for the majority of the past two seasons. However, as the Celtics struggle to establish ample spacing for their offense that's become largely dependent on Isaiah Thomas kicking the ball out to perimeter shooters, his hold on that spot is loosening.
Johnson has not started the second half of Boston's last two games as Brad Stevens has turned to Kelly Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko for spacing boost. The Swede actually ended up closing out the Celtics' come-from-behind win over the Hornets Friday night as the hosts closed a 12-point deficit in the second half with Horford firmly saddled at the five.
Ultimately, Jerebko ended up playing a season-high 25 minutes in the victory and that added playing time may not be a flash in the pan as Stevens admitted after the game he may see more time with the starting five.
"I think we'll – kind of like the Houston game, we'll pick and choose some of the starting opportunities for that group," Stevens explained. "Generally our starting lineup has been pretty good; we just haven't gotten the chance to play with it very often.
"There will be games where Jonas starts – probably not quite as many as Amir – but certainly there'll be games like tonight when we just felt like we needed the skill on the floor and we wanted to match the fives up with Al."
While the Celtics understandably want to take some of the burden off of Al Horford from battling in the trenches with bigs every night, more opponents are opting for smallball earlier in games. Horford did some of his best work in the second half while manning the middle, scoring 18 points and dishing out a team-high five assists.
Stevens has referenced Boston's strong starting lineup with Johnson surrounded by a full healthy starting 5 (8-3), but the fact remains that group has yet to record a win over a quality opponent. As the strength of schedule ramps up in the coming weeks, it's important for Boston to find a closing group they can count on, something that hasn't been the case with the three guard lineup with Smart in the fold.
The Jerebko/Horford duo doesn't have much time on the court together, but it does have promise. Others, such as NBA analyst Zach Lowe are calling to see more of the group.
The sooner Stevens can get a bigger sample size of minutes with that unit the better as Danny Ainge attempts to determine what this team needs as the trade season opens in the NBA.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
