Boston Celtics: Early encouraging signs from bench players

They haven’t hit the stratosphere yet, but there’s plenty to like with what’s going on with the bench players on the Boston Celtics in the season’s first week.

Bench play for the Boston Celtics in the 2020-21 season is going to play a huge factor in any success the team is to have. Through five games, the results have been promising, with room to still grow.

The players seeing adequate playing time have been consistent and the starting five has been the same in four of Boston’s first five games.

Boston switched it up with no Tristan Thompson in game five. The Celtics won handily against the Memphis Grizzlies, 126-107, with the starting five and a career-high 42 points from Jaylen Brown doing most of the damage. The bench, however, did their fair share of work.

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Everyone who played for the Celtics in the victory found the scoring column as the bench played the majority of the fourth quarter.

That hadn’t been the case in this young season entering the game, as head coach Brad Stevens is still rightfully tinkering with rotations and which players will see minutes each game.

In what will be an ultra-competitive Eastern Conference, finding the right mix is an absolute must. Scoring by the second unit has been fairly consistent, averaging 34.6 ppg. The dynamic playmaker off the bench who can score 14-16 points per game is still missing but with what we’ve seen in the early going, there’s a couple of players who can grow into that role.

Including a rookie who is making plenty of right moves.

Boston Celtics youth taking charge

There has been a lot said about Payton Pritchard, as this early steal of the draft is already making an impact for Boston. In that regard, I’ll keep it minimal and just say that he’s already showing savvy moves of a veteran who is proving to be a hard-nosed and smart defender.

And he’s proving to be quite the shooter — as expected — knocking down 60.7 percent of his field goal attempts.

Pritchard is playing like a veteran, while veteran Jeff Teague seemingly is fitting right in with the Boston Celtics. Teague introduced himself with a 19-point performance off the bench in the season opener. While he hasn’t matched that since, he did get the start against the Grizzlies, doing a little bit of everything in filling out the stat sheet.

There’s also a lot to like with Robert Williams III as he continues to improve. Hot off his rise in the latter part of the 2019-20 season, Williams is doing fantastic things. There will still be some lapses, but with the more playing time he gets, the less we will see those miscues.

Williams had six points and 10 rebounds against the Grizzlies and is averaging 7.5 points and 5.7 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. He’s also only missed two shots in 17 attempts so far in 2020-21.

These three players have stood out, but Grant Williams, Semi Ojeleye, and Javonte Green have played well in spurts, with even Carsen Edwards scoring nine in the Memphis game.

This doesn’t even include Romeo Langford, who hasn’t played yet due to off-season surgery on his wrist. Langford should provide much-needed help on the defensive end when he returns.

Boston’s bench has the potential to go 10-deep when — and if — everyone is healthy. Led by Pritchard and Teague, the unit is beginning to gel and signs are encouraging. As they continue to learn their tendencies, Boston will only get better, meaning big things are on the horizon.