BOSTON — The Celtics just didn’t have it in their loss Wednesday to the Hawks. It was evident right from tipoff. The Hawks rained 3-pointers early while the Celtics missed multiple layups. The C’s, rarely ever blown out, lost by double-digits for the first time since Dec. 11 in Milwaukee.
But there was a somewhat overlooked bright spot: the bench’s play in the third quarter. With the Celtics trying to piece together a comeback, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez injected some life into the game. It didn’t change the outcome of the game, but Payton Pritchard made sure to give them credit.
“It’s great to see that,” Pritchard said. “I remember being in that position and coming in and you’re giving your team some energy, everything you got. They did a great job tonight. Obviously, the starting group didn’t do their job.”
That’s part of the Celtics’ strength that gets overlooked at times. The C’s employ multiple young, energetic wings who will play hard every time they’re on the court. Gonzalez has endeared himself to the Boston faithful because, aside from his great defensive instincts, it’s clear he leaves it all out on the court.
Scheierman specifically was everywhere near the end of the third quarter. The image of him screaming from the ground after drawing a foul on a defensive rebound brought some juice. He was also fouled hard by Onyeka Okongwu that resulted in a review for a flagrant foul. Scheierman didn’t get the flagrant call, but he helped ignite the crowd.
The Celtics have multiple hungry guys who are unproven in this league. Jordan Walsh had a lengthy stretch starting this season, and he’s proven he can be an NBA rotation player. If the Celtics lack energy, they can plug in one of their young guys to change the complexity of the game.
As Pritchard pointed out, it wasn’t the bench who lost the Celtics the game Wednesday. The starters just weren’t good enough. Jaylen Brown said it wasn’t his night as the Celtics failed to build off the reserves’ momentum created in the third quarter. It was also one of those nights where nothing was going right for the C’s.
“I don’t think we played to our standard tonight,” Jaylen Brown said. “I don’t think I played to my standard tonight, and that was a part of it. The team feeds off of my energy as well. So being a leader, I got to be better. Tonight I just didn’t have it. We just got to get ready for the next one, continue to navigate the season. It’s not going to be perfect every single night.”