How the Boston Celtics keep winning despite non-stop injuries

Ho hum, the Boston Celtics won a game they had no business winning. It’s far from the first time that this has happened, and yet every time, it still causes a head shake and eye blink. The Celtics did what? With who? On Wednesday, we landed right back in the same situation.

Boston trailed the Utah Jazz 94-88 with 2:25 left in the game, and that really should have been it. Utah is a surging playoff team that’s still sitting in the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference — they have a small lead over the next two games, but not enough to screw around. The Celtics, meanwhile, continue to play without Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart. Hours before Wednesday’s game, it was announced Al Horford and Marcus Morris would both miss the game, too — they each have sprained ankles.

One more bucket from the Jazz in that final two-and-a-half minutes, and it might have been the dagger. Or if they could just keep the pseudo-Celtics from scoring three times, that would work equally well. Instead, Utah missed their final five shots while allowing Boston to finishing the game on a 7-0 run. Here’s how it ended.

That’s Jaylen Brown, and that’s buckets. As he said after the game, “It felt good,” and admitted he had nothing left in the tank for a potential overtime. So he’s glad it fell through.

Maybe Brad Stevens is Coach of the Year.

Early in the fourth quarter, Stevens tried running a 2-3 zone. It was ... unexpected, to say the least.

Brad Stevens says he went to the 2-3 zone because “it allowed us to direct the pick-and-roll the way we wanted to direct it.”
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 29, 2018

Calling a zone defense in an NBA game is next level trolling. Respect to Brad Stevens.
— SLC Dunk (@slcdunk) March 29, 2018

Is this some next-level Brad Stevens scouting that he noticed Mitchell struggled against the zone at Louisville or something
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) March 29, 2018

It worked alright, and took Utah out of their rhythm, which helped contribute to their 23-point fourth quarter. That was enough for Boston to surge pack in front and somehow sneak out this win. As Stevens keeps getting his team to win games like these despite starting players like Guerschon Yabusele, it really does speak to his organizational skills and ability to get the most out of anyone on his roster, from the No. 1 player to the 15th man. Hell, for his next challenge, maybe Stevens will start a couple G-Leaguers just to see what happens.

That 2-3 zone alone didn’t win this game for Boston, but it’s those moves that Stevens is never afraid of to try something different. Clearly, it often works.

But the players deserve most of the credit here.

This is one thing that Stevens is fantastic at. Despite undoubtedly being one of the best three or four coaches in the league, he is very careful not to sing his own praises, particularly at the expense of his own players. NBA athletes have fragile egos — it’s true! — and they will even feel slighted at the number of questions asked by media members about their excellent coaching.

Interesting comments by Jaylen on ESPN after the game basically saying yes Brad Stevens is a great coach but the players deserve more credit... Which is fair. Stevens gets all the love but the players have to do it. Interesting though that players use that as motivation
— John Karalis (@RedsArmy_John) March 29, 2018

Stevens does makes sure these players get put into smart positions where they can succeed, but those players still have to do just that. Stevens wouldn’t be in this position if Terry Rozier hadn’t taken to the starting point guard role in Irving’s absence with aplomb. He’s averaging nearly 19 points and five assists as a starter, and shooting better than he did off the bench!

Somehow, Boston is 13-4 without Irving.

Stevens wouldn’t be here without Jayson Tatum, either. He’s the sixth Celtics rookie to have 60-plus games with 10 or more points, and he was the team’s second-leading scorer on Wednesday. Stevens wouldn’t be here with Brown’s impact all year, or Aron Baynes solidifying his role as starting center. Stevens wouldn’t be here without Shane Larkin emerging as a capable backup guard. These players deserve the credit, and Stevens has no desire to take it away from them.

Regardless, the Celtics keep doing this.

Last week, the Celtics beat the Oklahoma City Thunder on a Marcus Morris three-pointer. In the next game, Morris scored 30 points while Boston secured a five-point win over the Portland Trail Blazers. In both games, the team didn’t have Irving or Brown.

Earlier this month, Boston beat the Orlando Magic with, somehow, Greg Monroe leading them in scoring. Obviously, the success of this entire season has been accomplished without Gordon Hayward, who went down with a season-ending injury in the first game. It’s a far cry from their full roster, but all that matters is that the Celtics keep getting upper-case dubyas.

It doesn’t appear that this will matter much. The Toronto Raptors still lead Boston by three games in the Eastern Conference for the No. 1 seed, and they aren’t plagued with these same injury problems. The season series is currently tied at one win each, but Toronto will face the Celtics on Saturday and again next week. The Raptors should win both, given Boston’s current injury problems, but you never know for sure.

It’s Stevens, it’s the players, and it’s a miracle that Boston keeps doing this. It surely won’t continue into the postseason, so the Celtics need to get healthy. But it’s worth celebrating the zombie Celtics who refuse to die all the same.

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