Shamrock roundup: win streak reaches three games
The Celtics are surely flying high after their third straight win Wednesday night over the Utah Jazz thanks to improved depth from the roster and a big contribution from Leandro Barbosa.
It was a story of rising to the occasion for Barbosa when Rajon Rondo left the game in the third quarter with an ankle sprain. In his absence, Barbosa led the scoring charge at point guard with 16 points in the 98-93 Boston win.
“Barbosa was terrific,” Doc Rivers said, according to CSNNE.com. “He bailed us out, not only just replacing Rondo. I thought our starters started the game out pretty flat and I thought our second unit with Courtney Lee and Barbosa, Jared (Sullinger), that group gave us a spurt, Jeff Green. Then obviously Rondo goes out in the second half and just putting [Barbosa] in and we didn’t run much because he doesn’t know much. But everything was basically pick-and-rolls. We told him to just keep attacking to the basket and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Barbosa wasn’t the only bench player stepping up, with the Celtics’ bench outscoring their Utah counterparts 47-25.
On the downside, Rondo’s status is questionable for Thursday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Doc Rivers had been experimenting with the lineup quite a bit, but it looks like he’s found a winning combination with Brandon Bass and Jason Terry as starters. His team is 2-0 since making the lineup change.
In their 101-95 win at Chicago Monday, Terry scored 13 points and Bass had 16 of his own.
