Boston Celtics: The Importance Of Evan Turner
The Boston Celtics have now won seven of their last 10 games, and Evan Turner is a big reason why.
The Boston Celtics certainly have a lot of depth on their team. Head coach Brad Stevens sometimes plays 10 guys in every game, and Evan Turner is one of the key players that comes off the bench.
Tuner has been pretty good this season, he is averaging 10.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, and he is shooting 45 percent from the field. All of Turner’s numbers are pretty decent, except for his 16.9 percent three-point shooting percentage. Turner has realized that he cannot shoot from deep, which is good news, and he has also really found an important role on this Celtics team.
Boston an offensive rating of 106.5, which is No. 9 in the NBA. The top three scorers on the Celtics are all in the starting lineup; Isaiah Thomas averages 21.6 PPG, Avery Bradley averaged 15.2 PPG and Jae Crowder averages 14.1 PPG. The fourth and fifth leading scorers on the Celtics come off the bench, and those players are Kelly Olynyk (10.1 PPG) and Turner.
One problem the Celtics have had for the season is trying to generate offense without Isaiah Thomas on the floor because he is their leading scorer, and he also leads the team in assists (6.7 APG). He gets the team going on offense, but when he is off the floor, coach Stevens tends to hand the keys over to Turner.
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The lineup that includes Marcus Smart, Evan Turner, Jonas Jerebko, Avery Bradley and Kelly Olynyk has posted a plus/minus of 2.9, which is the highest on the team. This lineup also averages 16.2 PPG when they are on the floor, which is second highest on the team behind the starting lineup of Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson.
Turner is a big reason why the Celtics have found success without Thomas on the floor because he has the ability to create his own shot and he has great vision on the court.
Turner has also been playing extremely well in the month of February by averaging 13.1 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 5.8 APG, which shows that he has been a key to Boston’s success.
Turner’s Importance
For the most part, many players that come off the bench are not as important as players in the starting lineup, but in Boston, Turner is just as important. The team needs him to play well if they want to suceed because when their primary scorer and playmaker is off the floor, the Celtics rely heavily on Turner to create for others and score. Turner has the best midrange turnaround jumpshot on the team and he can post up almost any guy guarding him because of his size.
Turner has also been known to be a clutch player, dating back to his days in college for the Ohio State Buckeyes. At the end of the game, Turner should be on the floor along with Thomas because of their ability to create their own shot, and we saw that in the game against the Los Angeles Clippers when Thomas and Turner kept getting big buckets down the stretch.
Below is another example of Turner being clutch. Even though he is not a great three-point shooter, he still knows how to hit the big shot when the team needs a bucket.
Overall
Turner adds instant offense and playmaking ability off the bench, which is something the Celtics truly need, especially when Thomas is off the floor.
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Turner’s play has been a huge key to Celtics’ sucess, and he has been on fire during the month of February. If he keeps this up, the Celtics are going to be one tough team to beat in the playoffs.