Pregame Post-Ups: How Stevens Preps for ‘The Elite of the Elite’

BOSTON – Preparing for the second game of a back-to-back is one of the greatest obstacles in the NBA, but prepping for an elite superstar in that scenario is a whole different challenge in and of itself.

The Boston Celtics will face such a task Friday night when they face off against Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The matchup comes less than 24 hours after Boston’s 109-102 win in Indianapolis, so Brad Stevens and the C’s have had very little time to prepare for Oklahoma City’s perennial MVP candidate.

“When you have short turnarounds, you have to be as good at what you do as possible and then adjust accordingly to who gives you the most fits,” Stevens said ahead of Friday’s tip-off. “And [Westbrook] is one of the guys in the league that gives you the most fits because of his downhill speed, his ability to post smaller guys and guys his size, and just how good he is generally.”

Just how good has Westbrook been this season? Well, he’s putting up numbers that we haven’t seen the likes of in 55 seasons.

Westbrook is averaging an absurd combination of 31.3 points, 10.8 assists and 10.5 rebounds per game. He’s on pace to become just the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double over the course of a season. The only other player to accomplish that feat was Oscar Robertson, who averaged 30.8 points, 11.4 assists and 12.5 rebounds per game during the 1961-62 season.

The scary thing about Westbrook is that he believes he can get even better. Thunder coach Billy Donovan said this afternoon that the 28-year-old point guard is constantly striving to improve, and that approach, in turn, has a positive impact on Oklahoma City’s other players and the team’s overall success.

“I think any time your best player has that mentality, it kind of trickles into the team,” said Donovan. “One big thing for him is that he wants to be an efficient player. And in order to be an efficient player, it takes a great deal of concentration and focus on his part.

“What I really admire [about Westbrook] is that he watches probably as much film as any player in this league. And I think it’s great for our younger guys to see how he prepares himself for games, the way he prepares himself for opponents.”

Westbrook was certainly prepared when he took on the Celtics 12 days ago in Oklahoma City. During the matchup, the five-time All-Star tallied 37 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, as his Thunder beat an Isaiah Thomas-less Celtics, 99-96.

While that would have been seen as an otherworldly performance for most players, it was a completely ordinary effort for Westbrook.

With Westbrook’s stats aside, Stevens expressed satisfaction toward the way Boston performed during that matchup.

“I thought even despite his stat line, we did a pretty good job of trying to do what we wanted to do the first game,” said Stevens. “He just made some remarkable plays. “[He’s] going to have some of those, and that’s why it becomes so critical that you score on the other end, because there’s only so much you can do with the elite of the elite in this league.”

While Westbrook is the primary focal point for Boston’s defense, Stevens says the C’s can’t just hone in on him and forget about OKC’s other players.

"[Westbrook's] been really good against us, but their other guys have been really harmful against us too," said Stevens. "Especially their bigs have really hurt us on the blocks and on the glass. So you have to focus on [Westbrook] and everything else."

Boston will try its hand again tonight against the Thunder and their potentially MVP-bound superstar. Hopefully with Thomas back in the lineup, the C's will be able to snag a ‘W’ this time around.

- Taylor C. Snow