BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics opened and closed the second half of Friday's victory over the Charlotte Hornets with Jonas Jerebko in place of Amir Johnson in Boston's typical starting five. Considering the success the team has had with that grouping this season, it was fair to wonder whether coach Brad Stevens might be enticed to lean on it more often. But Stevens again made it clear he will only occasionally shuffle Jerebko into Boston's starting five, mostly to match up with opponents' small-ball lineups.
"Kind of like the Houston game [earlier this month], we’ll pick and choose some of the starting opportunities for that group," Stevens said. "Generally our starting lineup’s been pretty good, we just haven’t gotten the chance to play with it very often. So there will be games where Jonas starts, probably not quite as many as Amir, but certainly there will be games like tonight when we just felt like we needed the skill on the floor."
Boston's preferred opening five of Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Al Horford and Johnson has started only 11 games together this season due to injuries, but they are 8-3. What's more, Boston's starters own a net rating of plus-9.1 (offensive rating of 110.2; defensive rating of 101). Of all five-man lineups in the NBA with at least 120 minutes of playing time, Boston's starting five ranks 10th in net rating.
All of which is to say that, among the things the underperforming Celtics (14-12) need to tweak, the starting lineup is nowhere near the top of the list. Stevens is more likely to spend his time trying to figure out why the Celtics have played so poorly after the starters go to the bench for the first time.
In the second quarter of games this season, the Celtics rank last in the NBA in both offensive rating (95.0) and points scored (23.1). As good as Boston's starters have typically been at the start of games, the team has struggled to maintain that level of play over a 15-minute span starting late in the first quarter.
Just look at Boston's performance by quarter:
It's telling that the Celtics are 10-3 this season when they lead at halftime and just 4-9 when they're behind. Friday's win over the Hornets was a rare second-half rally after Boston's anemic 18-point second-quarter left the team staring at a double-digit third-quarter deficit.
So what exactly is hindering Boston in the second quarter? Continuity is certainly one thing. The fact that Boston has had its preferred starting lineup for just 42.3 percent of its games has forced Stevens to routinely tinker with his reserve pairings.
With all bodies healthy Friday, Stevens was able to roll out an all-reserve lineup to start the second quarter that featured Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown, Kelly Olynyk and Jerebko. Alas, that lineup has played only 16 total second-quarter minutes in only seven games this season. That's still the most minutes of any Boston five-man pairing in the second quarter, and the unit's net rating of plus-24.5 is an encouraging sign that the all-reserve group can set a quality tone at the start of quarters.
What's hurt Boston this season is Stevens' preference to close the second quarter with three-guard lineups that often sub Smart in place of Johnson in Boston's starting five. While that group has played only 13 total second-quarter minutes this season, it owns a cringe-worthy net rating of minus-72.9. Stevens has admitted there's a large enough sample size now that suggests Boston simply cannot go with that three-guard set unless there's a favorable matchup.
What will be interesting to see is how Stevens tinkers with those second-quarter pairings. If Jerebko is starting the quarter, it's unlikely Boston can bring him back late without finding rest in the middle of the quarter. The Celtics could simply go back to their typical starting five with Johnson, something they've rarely done (that unit has just seven minutes of second-quarter floor time this season).
While much of the focus lately has been on Boston's inability to close out games against quality opponents, second-quarter struggles have eliminated the team's margin for error and made things tighter at the finish line.
Finding the right combinations to lean on in the second quarter will go a long way toward eliminating the inconsistencies the Celtics have displayed this season.
