If there’s one thing that Jeff Teague has learned in his role with the Celtics, it’s to always stay ready. Such preparedness was put to the test Monday night in Memphis, where he stepped up for an unexpectedly shorthanded Boston team and passed in his best game of the season.
Teague entered FedExForum Monday evening knowing that he’d likely see a little extra playing time since Kemba Walker would be sitting out on the second night of a back-to-back, per usual. But what he didn’t expect was that he would be thrust into the starting lineup at the last minute after Jayson Tatum suddenly became too ill to play.
So how did Teague respond? By pouring in a season-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field, dishing out a team-high six assists, and carrying his shorthanded squad into overtime before falling, 132-126.
“Not having Kemba and Jayson is pretty tough, but the guys who had an opportunity to play tonight played hard,” said Teague, who also logged a season-high 39 minutes of action. “We’ve got winners in this locker room, so guys are going to compete at a high level and try to do their best and do their job to get us a win.”
Teague certainly tried his best to get his team the win, as he caught fire late in the game, scoring six of his team’s nine points in overtime. Even though the Celtics couldn’t pull out the win, his clutch play down the stretch was a promising sign for a guy who was coming off of two consecutive DNPs and is trying to carve out a more consistent role in the rotation.
Despite his recent DNPs, Teague has been playing much better over the past month. In his last 10 appearances, the 32-year-old has averaged 9.1 points per game while shooting 60.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range. In his previous 23 outings, he had averaged 5.5 PPG while shooting just 32.3 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from deep.
After taking a few months to adjust, Teague is clearly becoming more comfortable in Boston’s system, and he is becoming increasingly more aggressive in attacking the basket, as he showed Monday night by scoring eight buckets inside the paint.
Teague has also thrived when given a substantial amount of playing to work with. In the four games that he has logged at least 25 minutes of playing time, he has averaged 18.3 points, 4.8 assists, and 1.2 turnovers per game, while shooting 62.8 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from 3-point range.
This is an intriguing trend to keep an eye on, as the Celtics will likely need their role players to step up even more down the stretch considering how jam-packed their schedule will be heading into the playoffs.
Teague appears to be determined to act as a helping hand in such situations, as he continues to make the most of his playing time, even when called upon at the very last minute.
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