The first glimmer came on Wednesday when Delonte West played against the Pacers. West scored just two points to go with three assists in 16 minutes of work, but his impact was felt all over the court.
“What you can see,” Kevin Garnett said. “Are the pieces starting to come together.”
With West back in the lineup the Celtics actually had 12 active players, which hasn’t happened since Feb. 22. More than just providing much-needed depth, West brought balance and order to the court for the much-maligned second unit.
All season long it has been a struggle for coach Doc Rivers to assemble any kind of continuity with his reserves because of so many injuries. But on Wednesday, he got a glimpse at what will likely be the bulk of his reserve corps for the playoffs when he was able to play West alongside Jeff Green and Glen Davis.
That group helped turn the Indiana game around and provided relief for a starting unit that has been running on fumes the last week. Add in at least one O’Neal and the bench is suddenly good to go.
“Well, they’re more talented now, number one. The talent is growing with that second unit,” Rivers said. “You’ve got Jeff Green in your second unit. Delonte West in your second unit. Glen Davis. Pretty good second unit.”
There will be some more adjustments that will have to be made. Once Shaquille O’Neal returns from his Achilles injury (maybe next week?), the Celtics will likely shift Nenad Krstic to a reserve role. Krstic said after the game that he’s fine with that switch.
“I think Shaq deserves to start,” Krstic said. “He got hurt. He was a starter before he got hurt and I think he gets that job back.”
Players such as Carlos Arroyo have shown they have something to add to the mix and Troy Murphy has begun to show signs that he is rounding into form. The more the merrier for the Celtics who will need all of their players to grind through the regular season. There are also many candidates for a P.J. Brown-type to emerge in the postseason. The players understand the crowded situation.
“Doc does a great job of handling that, everybody’s egos and understanding their role,” Arroyo said. “We have guys who have been there before and they understand that it’s not about them. It’s about the team. It’s about winning, it’s about our biggest goal, which is winning a championship. That’s the reason we’re all here.”
Here’s a look at what the returning players offer the Celtics and how they could impact the rest of the team:
DELONTE WEST
Despite playing just nine games this season, West has the complete trust of his teammates and coaches. Part of that is his veteran standing, but a larger portion is his dedication to returning from two serious injuries. During his rehab from his broken wrist, it was a common to observe West going through long, punishing workouts on his own. Other players take notice of that kind of thing.
“You know what, not really,” Paul Pierce said when asked is he was surprised by West’s seamless transition back into the lineup. “The first time he came back from an injury he seemed pretty sharp after missing a couple of months.”
West gives them a solid ballhandler and someone who can get the second unit into sets. He’s also a tough defender and with the emergence of Arroyo, he could slide over to the two-guard spot. That’s a role that had been filled at various times by Von Wafer, Marquis Daniels, Sasha Pavlovic and Jeff Green. None have been ideal fits so there is opportunity there.
“We’ll see how those two play together,” Rivers said. “We’ll see how Delonte plays, where he plays better.”
As far as his health goes, West said that he’s not 100 percent and probably won’t be for the rest of the season. In addition to his wrist, he also revealed that he chipped a bone in his ankle when he stepped on a coach’s foot during a walkthrough on their late-February west coast trip.
“It’s not 100 percent, but it’s bearable,” West said. “It’s time to strap it up and see what I can do.”
His return is only the beginning. The biggest piece may be just a week away.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL
This is what we know about Shaq’s Achilles injury. Neither he nor the team expected him to be out this long. At some point he had a setback and the Celtics are being cautious with his comeback. The last thing they want is for him to play four or five games and then have to sit down again.
Rivers wants to see him get through a full practice with no pain, which hasn’t happened yet. Shaq is on their three-game road trip to go through shootarounds, but there won’t be any practice time on the trip with a back-to-back Friday and Saturday and then a quick visit to New York on Monday.
There is no definite timetable for his return, but all parties are convinced he will be back in time for the playoffs. When he does come back, it seems likely that he will return to his starting job. In the wake of the Kendrick Perkins trade, Danny Ainge said in an interview on WEEI that he had concerns over how Shaq’s body would respond to coming off the bench.
When Shaq was in the lineup, the Celtics shot over 50 percent as a team and as Ainge noted on The Big Show on Thursday, the Celtics recent struggles have more to do with their offense than their defense.
The tradeoff in terms of production from Krtstic to Shaq in the starting lineup is probably minimal, but the addition of Krstic to the second unit would offer an entirely new dimension of size, scoring and outside shooting. Of all the positions on the floor, the Celtics feel that the center spot is the easiest transition for incorporating new players.
“Shaq fit in right away,” Ainge said. “From the day he got here he fit in. Krstic came in, he fit right in. Whoever playing that center position for us, it's not a big adjustment period. Their role is pretty simple.”
The Celtics made the Perkins trade with the assumption that they would have plenty of size in the middle with Shaq and Krstic. They won’t know for sure until he returns.
JERMAINE O’NEAL
Behold the X-factor. Before O’Neal’s knee gave out he provided the Celtics with rebounding, interior defense and their only legitimate shot-blocking option. To be honest, the Celtics have no idea what they can expect from O’Neal when/if he comes back.
“I don’t even know the answer. I really don’t,” Rivers said. “Jermaine, even though he wasn’t on the court early in the year, at least he was in the practices, some of them. He did go through camp so he does have some basketball under him. I honestly could not tell you [what to expect]. I will say I think it’s easier for a big to do it. I’m assuming that. Listen, if he can give is five hard fouls, five really hard fouls, and block a couple shots and rebound, we’ll take that.”
O’Neal could be back by the end of the month. He might not. As long as they’re not relying on him, anything the Celtics get from O’Neal would be a huge bonus.
This Celtics team was supposed to be about continuity. Instead it’s taken 66 games for the version of the team that will head into the playoffs to begin to take shape. They have 16 games left to get it sorted out and while that’s not a lot of time, the talent -- if healthy -- is there for a long run.
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