Marcus Smart & Terry Rozier - Chaos Connection continues vs. Wolves


Early in the season, the Celtics bench was viewed as deep but not productive or efficient on offense. Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier are changing that view to deep - productive - efficient.


In the Celtics 91-84 win last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Marcus/Terry tandem came off the bench to give Boston the spark it needed. Smart notched 18 points on 61.5% shooting while T-Ro scored 14 points on 54.5% accuracy while adding nine rebounds. This what the ProvidenceJournal's Scott Souza had to say:

On a night when the Celtics were in danger of a possible letdown, it was the one-two punch of Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart off the bench that lifted them to a fifth straight triumph.

“Terry and Smart,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said, “those guys are good players. They’ve been doing it for a long time here. They just keep getting better and better.”

“It’s our third year playing together,” Rozier said of the tandem. “We went through a little slump, which happens, and we’re playing good basketball now. Once we lock in on the defensive end, we’re fine. We can create our offense by playing defense. That’s what me and Smart have been doing a pretty good job of (lately).”

“It’s a great feeling,” Smart said of holding Butler and most of the Timberwolves in check. “I know this coaching staff feels really good about it because they spend a lot of time, not only on offense, but also on the defensive end trying make sure that we’re in the right places to the succeed.

For the last 11 games, Marcus Smart is hitting 42.6% from the field and 33.9% on threes. Particularly for Marcus, that is solid. Terry in the last 11 games is even better with 49.0% from the floor and 44.9% on threes. They are combining for 23 points per game from the bench. And, as Souza indicated, they create chaos for the opposing team when they enter the game. Smart indicated, “Coach came in and made a comment about how we put up enough bricks to build a house tonight” according to Souza, but the Chaos Connection of Marcus and Terry tore apart the Wolves' offense and kept their own brick house intact with a nice win.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Andy Lyons/Getty Images North America

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