Draftkings Post-Ups: Stevens Stands Pat with Starting Five for Now

BOSTON – There was a lot of mixing and matching with the Boston Celtics’ starting lineup through the first couple of weeks of the season. They sent out four different starting lineups through the first eight games as they attempted to find a rhythm.

The C’s have discovered that desired rhythm during the past five days, and have been going steady behind starters Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger.

Boston has started that specific combination for the last three contests, all featuring playoff-worthy foes. It has have outscored each of those opponents by at least 15 points.

Just as important as finding the right starters is discovering the right spark plugs to come off the bench. Guys like Evan Turner, Kelly Olynyk and now Avery Bradley – who has shot 14-of-26 from the field during the last two outings – can all enter the game at any time and find an immediate groove.

Boston coach Brad Stevens will send out that same fivesome for the fourth consecutive opening tip, when they host the Dallas Mavericks at 7:30 p.m. tonight at TD Garden. He said that lineup is certainly not set in stone, but he likes what he’s seeing at the moment.

“I’m just kind of playing it by ear, playing it day-to-day,” Stevens said ahead of tonight’s opening tip. “When we first brought Avery [Bradley] back [from injury], I was the one that wanted to make sure that we didn’t overextend him and I thought the easiest way to do that would be to bring him off the bench. And then we won and played the next night and felt pretty good about it, now we’re playing the next night and feel pretty good about it and we’ll just see.”

Following the Bradley injury, Thomas and Smart have proved to be a formidable duo. The pair has a plus/minus per 100 possessions of plus-15.1 during 113 minutes of court time together this season.

Then to think they have Avery Bradley and Evan Turner – guys who have started the majority of their careers – to back them up.

“I think ultimately we probably have five starters [with] those perimeter guys and they could start any given night,” said Stevens.

The fact is the majority of the Celtics team is capable of starting on any given night.

Boston has had nine different players on the floor for the opening tip, and every one of them was qualified to do so.

However, the Celtics are in a groove at the moment, so they’ll continue to stand pat with their starting lineup for now.

- Taylor C. Snow