Do the Celtics finally have themselves a legitimate backup point guard in Phil Pressey?


Throughout the six-year run of the Kevin Garnett era in Boston, one thing the Celtics were always missing was a consistent backup point guard to Rajon Rondo.  Now that Garnett and Paul Pierce (and I guess Ray Allen needs to be mentioned as well) are gone and the C's are in full on rebuilding mode, it would be somewhat ironic if they have finally filled that void with Phil Pressey.

In Boston's unexpected 113-111 OT victory in Washington last night, Pressey played 35 minutes while posting a career high 20 points on 7-10 shooting (5-6 3PT FG), along with 4 assists, 2 steals, and a rebound.  He also had a sensational play late in the 4th quarter where he forced a jump ball while John Wall was driving to the hoop for a layup, then won the tip despite at least a six-inch height disadvantage.  Pressey's 5 three pointers were the most by a Celtic rookie in a single game in almost 11 years:


Since the departure of Jordan Crawford 5 games ago, Pressey's average number are as follows: 25.5 minutes, 6 points, 1 rebound, 6.2 assists, 1.8, steals, and only 1.8 turnovers per game.  His 3.44 assist to turnover ratio in that span would be good enough to rank among the top 5 in the NBA.  The Celtics have just 2 wins in their last 14 games, and oddly enough those also happen to be the only two starts of Pressey's young career.

But before we start writing in his name on All-Star ballots, it's worth noting that even with yesterday's outstanding performance Pressey's field goal percentage is still an abysmal 27.8% on the season.  I also feel obliged to mention that as I was writing the above title I felt a weird sense of deja vu, which led to me digging up this post from last spring:

"Have the Celtics finally (it's been a long long time) found a backup point guard in Terrence Williams?"


Follow Mark Vandeusen on twitter @LucidSportsFan
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