Many Celtics players have had to adjust to more prominent roles this season.
Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta are full-time starters for the first time in their careers. Josh Minott’s minutes-per-game average has more than tripled. Luka Garza is a near-nightly contributor after being buried on the bench (alongside Minott) in Minnesota. Jordan Walsh finally is seeing regular minutes — and, now, consistent starts — in his third season with Boston. Baylor Scheierman’s playing time is up, too.
The Celtics’ highest-profile offseason addition has experienced a different change. After starting more than 200 games for the Trail Blazers, including every one he played over the last three seasons, Anfernee Simons has had to relearn the needs and nuances of life as a bench player.
Simons, acquired from Portland in the Jrue Holiday trade, ranks fourth among Celtics players in minutes per game this season, but he has yet to start a game for Boston, serving as the sixth man behind starting guards Pritchard and Derrick White in each of his 17 appearances.
Reacclimating to that role has been “for sure, an adjustment,” Simons said, but his teammates and head coach Joe Mazzulla believe he’s starting to find his rhythm.
The 26-year-old enjoyed one of his best games as a Celtic on Sunday, tallying 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, four rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes in a 138-129 win over the Magic at TD Garden.
“He’s playing his role really well,” Mazzulla said. “I think he’s giving us everything. He’s trying to understand the system. He’s learning. He’s competing. But I think the guys are doing a good job. I think he’s just getting more comfortable coming off the bench and being aggressive right away. I think in the first few games, he was kind of easing into it. I think the last few weeks is kind of like, that’s what we need him to be. He’s done a great job of that, and just scoring in a bunch of different ways. So it’s good to see him do that.”
As a starter, Simons liked to take time to feel a game out, using the opening minutes to evaluate how the opponent was guarding him and formulate his plan of attack. Coming off the bench, he doesn’t have that luxury. Mazzulla wants instant aggressiveness when Simons checks in.
“Everything is kind of flipped,” Simons said. “It’s just a change of how you’re going to approach each and every game.”
Simons reached double figures before halftime in just four of his first 14 games with the Celtics, headlined by a 25-point first half in a Nov. 9 win at Orlando. He’s done so in each of his last three contests — while shooting a sizzling 67.7% from the field and 50% from three in those games.
His recent hot streak came after consecutive duds against the Grizzlies and Clippers. The Celtics won both games, but Simons shot 2-for-10 in the first and played just 12 minutes in the second, finishing with zero points for just the third time in the last five seasons.
Despite that lull, Simons’ 44.8% field-goal percentage so far this season would be the best of his career, and his 41.1% success rate from 3-point range would be his best since 2020-21. He’s averaging 20.8 points per 36 minutes, second-most on the team behind Jaylen Brown’s 31.0.
“That’s what we need,” Brown said of Simons’ latest outings. “Anfernee is capable offensively. We’ve got to continue to find spots and space for him to be a playmaker for himself and for others. (We need him) to be aggressive, and yeah, he’s capable. That’s what we’ve got to continue to empower and finding that rhythm for him. It’s not easy coming off the bench, a new role for him, but I think he’s been adjusting well. I’m finding ways, and I think the coaching staff is finding ways specifically to get him in some action and get him going a little bit, because he can fill it up if you give him space.”
Consistent offensive production is especially important for a player like Simons, who’s struggled as a defender throughout his career.
Mazzulla has praised Simons for his effort at that end, but the 6-foot-3 guard owns the second-worst defensive rating of all Celtics players this season. He’s totaled three steals in 255 minutes since the start of November, and the Celtics have been outscored with Simons on the court in more than half of their games.
To maximize his minutes, Simons said he’s focused on “simplifying” the way he views the game. His goals: be himself, be aggressive and make the right plays.
“Obviously, the human side, it’s not easy,” he said. “Just feeling like what I could’ve done better in those times, but also controlling the controllables and living with the results after that. I think that’s what I’ve been trying to hammer down over the past couple games. It’s just controlling the controllables and letting everything fall into place. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of dealing with all that and dealing with the emotional side of it. And knowing that if I’m playing 15 minutes, as long as I did what I had to do in those 15 minutes and we’re coming out with wins, then that’s all that matters.”