Stevens: blowout vs. Toronto ‘will be nothing’ if Celts draw Raps in postseason

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens doesn’t think much has changed for the team after their big win over the defending champions.

Boston Celtics head coach knows his team shouldn’t think too much of their demolition of the NBA’s reigning champs.

Despite shellacking one of only two teams that were still undefeated in the Disney ‘bubble’ by a hefty margin — their second such blowout in two games — the former Butler coach kept to his usual ‘not too high, not too low’ perspective in Friday night’s postgame presser.

“This game will be nothing if we get that opportunity again; they’re a really good team, ” he explained. “I thought they missed a lot of open looks and just wasn’t their night. Our guys play well … but it won’t mean anything in a couple weeks.”

With Toronto still a deadly opponent despite how they looked against Boston, and the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, and Philadelphia 76ers all formidable potential early postseason matchups (to say nothing of the Milwaukee Bucks), this is the right way to look at things.

It was just a few games ago the Celtics were a disjointed mess on defense — and were not shooting especially well, with little help from their bench.

And while a lot of that seems to be pointed in the right direction, it’s still too soon to say those woes have been overcome.

“I think the the biggest thing is is that when the ball doesn’t stick we’re pretty good,” offered Stevens.

“We really had a large emphasis on that, not only tonight but the other night [vs. the Nets] as well and we’ve got to keep sharing it. Keep making plays for others … our players are really good; they’re going to draw a lot of help. So, when they do, it’s just a matter of making the right read doing that over and over again.”

What was the difference?

According to Stevens, mindset; “I think the biggest thing is that we you know we were ready to play.”

“I thought Wednesday [against Brooklyn] we really guarded, for the most part, the way we wanted to start guarding, and I thought that continued today. So, we have to be locked in, we have to be dialed in, [and] we have to be good defensively to have a chance to be a good team.”

After what we saw on Friday night, it’s evident this team has a championship ceiling.

But based on what we saw against the Miami Heat, it’s also clear a first-round exit isn’t out of the question, either.

In the end, it will be up to Boston, and which version of the Celtics they bring to the table on a game-to-game basis.

[lawrence-related id=40379,40360,40352,40336]