The Boston Celtics are set to take on the New York Knicks tonight in game two of the 2013 NBA playoffs. Coming off the game that slipped away from them, the Celtics they need their bench to step up big tonight. The Celtics’ bench was only able to put up four points against the 33 that the Knicks’ bench put up. Courtney Lee was the only bench player who scored, and he had all four points. With the bench so ineffective, the starters played heavy minutes as Doc Rivers couldn’t rely on his bench for scoring. Going into the playoffs Doc normally sets an eight man rotation, but he has to go back to square one and find out who he can trust.
Most of the blame has fallen on Jason Terry and rightfully so. Terry was brought in to be the Celtics sixth man; he was the guy that Rivers could trust to be the offensive spark and create his own shots. Jason was held scoreless for the game, and he needs to be the guy to set the tone for the rest of the players on the bench. Jordan Crawford, who the Celtics traded for, was also looked at to provide scoring. Crawford is known for his score first mentality, but it was missing as he scored nothing in the game as well.
The Celtics cannot be successful with this lack of production as it will cost them the series like it cost them game one. Rivers needs to dig a little deeper into his bench and bring in Terrance Williams who has shown that he can create offense and dish out assists to open players. The Celtics need the bench to step up tonight because they cannot afford to go back to Boston down two games.
Shannon Brown is a Boston Celtics writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your Google network
