Speaking at a shootaround on the morning of Game 5 against the New York Knicks, the Boston Celtics discussed a number of subjects.
NEW YORK – Facing another elimination game Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics spoke about a need to focus on the next play prior to their morning shootaround.
“Understand each possession and what it means, the importance of that possession,” explained Kevin Garnett at Madison Square Garden on the morning of Game 5. “Small things are what’s going to make this do-or-die type of game.”
Head coach Rivers said he hammers home the importance of living in the moment “over and over, over and over.”
“In timeouts, ‘Okay, I know it. Let’s move on, let’s go!’ I thought it happened in (Game 4) the other night,” Rivers said. “The Knicks make the run, and you can see our guys talking about the last play or the play before that. That’s not going to help me. That play’s over with.”
Asked the importance of coming out strong in order to give New York some doubt, Garnett responded in part: “We know we’re playing on the road, we know they play really well here. I think the important thing is not to get down, to come out with a fire and play throughout with that fire.”
“I do think to be really great, you have to get to not only just one quarter, one possession at a time, and play forward, not play in reverse,” Rivers said. “I think that’s where players get lost, they have a couple of bad possessions and they’re thinking about that or they’re thinking about the last game, the team made a run on them. And you can’t do that. It’s hard, but you just can’t.”
Especially while down 3-1 in a playoff series.
More notes from the shootaround follow.
Avery Bradley's off-ense
To say Avery Bradley’s struggling would be an understatement. Playing point guard in a playoff series for the first time in his career, the guard has experienced problems running Boston’s offense and is shooting just 11-30 (36.7 percent) himself.
In Game 4, he was also the primary defender on Knicks guard Raymond Felton – who finished with 27 points. Bradley couldn’t be blamed for Felton’s entire output, since some of the guard’s buckets came in transition or after switches, but still didn’t live up to his defensive reputation.
“I think (Bradley’s bad shooting) spills over to the defense at times,” Rivers said. “You’re human. If you’re not making shots and you get down on that, it takes energy away from you on both ends. But I think overall he’s fighting through it, I think he’s coming out of it.
“He made his first shot the other night and didn’t make another one, but he made his first shot. More importantly, I didn’t think he hesitated on any of the other shots. And that’s all we want him to do. For us, he’s our defensive player and the offense will come.”
Rajon Rondo won’t play this postseason because of a torn ACL, but Garnett said the injured All-Star is still helping Bradley as part of his many duties on the bench.
“He’s talking to Avery (Terrence Williams), the guys that play the point guard position; speaking to Paul and I about opportunities, being aggressive; giving the coaching staff a perspective," said Garnett. "(Rondo’s) a very smart guy, very high IQ when it comes to a lot of different things. He’s giving his take on what he sees out there, as far as where he’s at.
“But more importantly just being a safety net for Avery right now. Avery goes through periods where it’s difficult, which is going to happen; we’ve all been young before. But just being a security blanket for Avery and any other body who needs it.”
Garnett called playing without Rondo an “adjustment.”
“When you’re out there with him, you understand the game is a little more simplified,” explained the center. “He’s a player who takes a lot of pride in being well-prepared, knowing the opposition, knowing what the opposition wants to do – first, second and third options. You just don’t get that through any point guard.”
Still, Rivers didn't want to use Rondo's absence as an excuse.
"I don’t use that as a reason, just like the Knicks probably shouldn’t use the reason we won is because J.R. Smith didn’t play," he said. "But they did.”
Garnett on the rebound
Despite needing so much treatment prior to games that Rivers recently said a lot of other players would just stop playing instead, Garnett has recorded 17 rebounds in each of the past two games.
“A lot of rebounding is timing,” he said. “Tyson (Chandler) and I, Kenyon (Martin) and I, we’re down there battling for the ball, some of them are coming off for me or whatever. It’s not one or two things that go into it, nor would I like to share. But the things I have been doing are working for me and I’m going to stick with it.”
Jeff Green growing up
With Jeff Green second on the team in postseason scoring with 20.8 points per game, Rivers was asked if this is the first time the forward’s been such a focal point.
“Yeah, would be my guess,” said Rivers. “I have a feeling they probably went to (Kevin) Durant in Oklahoma City. Georgetown, he was the guy. Got them to the Final Four, so he’s been that before.”
Despite Green’s growing role, Rivers said that he wasn’t sure whether this series will go down as a pivotal point in Green’s career.
“I don’t try to put too much on any one game or one series. He’s so young, he has a long career,” Rivers said. “The sooner he gets it going, the better for everybody.”
As for Green’s development, Rivers feels this year is important.
“Playoffs are the best tool of teaching you can use, I think for all the players,” he said. “Even veterans learn in the playoffs because you really do understand that every possession matters in the game, and not the last possession, where you decide to focus then and you realize it’s too late.
"Even the guys who aren’t playing a lot, they see the intensity that – if you want to be great – you have to play at consistently.”