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Three Takeaways From the Boston Celtics Win In Milan

By Jeremy Gottlieb

Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) shoots in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) shoots in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Celtics first preseason game is in the books and the results were molto bene. Boston routed Olimpia Milano 124-91 over in Milan on Tuesday, displaying a nifty mix of ball movement, tough defense and excellent shooting en route to the 33-point win. It’s tough to gauge too much from the first preseason tilt especially against a non-NBA squad but the Celts still gave us enough intel to take away a handful of observations from the game. With preseason game two coming up on Thursday in Madrid, lets take a look at what we learned from the victory over Milano.

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1. More threes, less twos!: Brian Robb of CBSBoston.com notes that in the win over Milano, only nine of the Celtics’ 82 field goal attempts came from the midrange. Avery Bradley, one of the most notorious long two-takers in the league, hoisted four from long distance (each from a corner) and made them all. The Celts probably aren’t ever going to be the Houston Rockets in this regard but the emphasis on eliminating midrange jumpers and long twos (or at least decreasing the volume of those shots) bodes very well for their prospects and judging on Tuesday’s game, they’re off to a good start.

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2. There are no real rotations yet: Some eyebrows were raised when Jared Sullinger was not only left on the bench until early in the second quarter but was the fourth big man to enter the game off the bench, following starters David Lee and Tyler Zeller as well as Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko and Kelly Olynyk. The first preseason game tells us exactly nothing about how rotations will wind up shaking out once the real games begin. But given the glut of 4s and 5s on the Celtics’ roster as presently constituted, someone is going to have to sit (if not be traded) and Sullinger (who scored 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting — including just one three-point attempt — in 15 minutes) could be a candidate.

3. Of all the rookies, R.J. Hunter feels like a regular: Let’s be clear — Hunter probably won’t play too too much this season with both Evan Turner and Jae Crowder ahead of him at the 3 and the guard rotation set to primarily feature Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas and Bradley. But the Celtics are thin on the wing and Hunter can shoot the lights out. Both Terry Rozier and Jordan Mickey will more than likely get the majority of their minutes in Maine and Hunter may well ride the Portland-to-Boston shuttle too. But given the current makeup of the roster along with his skill set, Hunter, who appears to be ahead of last year’s second first-rounder James Young at the moment, his being a part of the 10-man rotation seems like a safe bet.

Next: Player Profile: Marcus Smart

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