IT and Amir a Good Fit

October 19, 2015

WALTHAM - While some try to speculate on which group of five the Celtics will be starting when the regular season begins a week from Wednesday, Brad Stevens is looking at how smaller groups harmonize.

The coach has already spoken of how well Isaiah Thomas works with someone like Jonas Jerebko , who spreads the floor, and now you can add Amir Johnson to the reciprocal complementary society.
"I think that's been a good combination from Day 1," Stevens said yesterday at the team's practice facility.



The 6-foot-9 Johnson and 5-9 Thomas may appear to be an odd coupling when they walk down a street, but playing well together has come naturally. "It has," Thomas said. "He makes the game easy for me. He's a player that just knows how to play. Sometimes he doesn't even know what play we're running, but his basketball IQ is so high, he knows what to do out there. He's a talented basketball player, man, offensively and defensively, and he's going to definitely help us this season.

"Ever since he's gotten here, it's kind of been like clockwork. I mean, we don't really talk about it. We play off instinct and play off what the defense gives us." Asked if he's let Stevens know he wants Johnson with him when he comes into a game, Thomas smiled and said, "We'll be good if we're together."

Johnson agrees.

"Isaiah's a unique player," Johnson said. "He can create his own shot at times, so you really rarely have to set a screen for him. Mainly you've just got to really look for the ball and roll, because he's a good passer at the same time he's a good shooter. "It's what I do. I'm a big that likes to set screens and roll. He just makes it easier for me, because he's such a great ballhandler that he gets the defender off him before I even set the screen. It just works. We both do our jobs great."

Sickening thoughts

David Lee missed practice with the illness that's been going around the team, but Marcus Smart was back after being pulled off the trip to New York with strep throat. "I feel a lot better," Smart said. "I took those days to rest and let the antibiotics do their job. I'm just trying to get myself back to healthy."

Smart can expect a greater workload this week as the Celts host the Brooklyn Nets tonight and the New York Knicks on Thursday night, then finish their exhibition slate with a Friday trip to Manchester, N.H., to face the Philadelphia 76ers. "I've got a pretty good idea about what we need to do, where we need to go, what we need to see," Stevens said. "I feel good about where a lot of our guys are at, as far as conditioning level and even experience level through the first four games. We'll still sit some guys this week. They'll play enough.

"I think that it's really important that guys like (rookie) Terry (Rozier), who sat out all last week (knee), guys like Marcus, who sat out all last week, play a lot just to get themselves going again. And a lot's relative; I don't see anybody going over 24-28 minutes."

Said Rozier: "This is going to be huge for me. My body's a little weak from having that and being in bed all day, and my conditioning is down a little bit. With the season right around the corner, opening night, it's important that I get my conditioning back up, and these next couple games are going to help me with that." . . .

Stevens had an interesting response to a question about Thomas' new 1-foot floater: "If you're 5-9 or 5-10 and you're the kind of scorer that he is, you're going to draw the kind of attention that he is, traditional's not going to work."

Numbers to dwindle

The roster decisions would seem to be rather clear-cut. Coty Clarke , Malcolm Miller , Levi Randolph and Corey Walden are likely on their way to the Maine Red Claws of the D-League eventually, leaving 16 guaranteed contracts for 15 available spots with the big club. Barring a deal that clears a contract, Perry Jones would seem to have the biggest burden of proof this week.
"I haven't talked to Danny (Ainge) about the final cuts at all," Stevens said. "In fact, I haven't done that really in my years here. They usually just tell me, 'Hey, by the way, we have to make cuts soon.' I think the biggest thing for Perry is, Perry has a chance to be a very, very good multi-positional defender, and he's got a chance to be a guy that can play off closeouts, make shots or post switches. So being able to do those things regularly is a huge key. But I've been impressed with what Perry can do, what he has done, especially in practice."