At this stage of the NBA season, most teams know their identities. The Boston Celtics just want to know who will suit up.
At this stage of the NBA season, most teams know their identities. The Boston Celtics just want to know who will suit up.
“We don’t have our playoff rotation set. Most teams do. We don’t," head coach Doc Rivers said, according to the Boston Herald. "We have, I know, seven for sure, but we want to play eight or nine, and we don’t have that. So it gives us a good look at all the other guys to figure out the one or two other guys that it’ll be.”
Assuming that Kevin Garnett returns healthy (Rivers said, "It sounds like he’ll be fine"), the seven rotation candidates are likely:
Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Brandon Bass, Avery Bradley and Jason Terry.
That would leave Chris Wilcox competing with Shavlik Randolph for the third big man role behind Garnett and Bass, with Jordan Crawford and Terrence Williams looking for minutes at guard. Randolph is a better rebounder than Wilcox (and looks more like actor Josh Holloway), but Wilcox is a better finisher at the rim (note that he leads the league in true shooting percentage among players with at least 40 games played). As for Crawford and Williams, they're a bit like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.
Rivers has been hard on Wilcox all season, even telling him on the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery: "Now, no more excuses."