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C's Prove to be Interchangeable at Guard Positions

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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics have a unique situation occurring in their backcourt this season.

They currently possess four guards who are completely interchangeable. Four guys who flourish in any role they are asked to play, whether it’s starting or providing a spark off the bench.

We’ve all known that to be the case for Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Evan Turner. But Avery Bradley – a mainstay in Boston’s starting lineup over the last three seasons – has suddenly joined the club as well.

After suffering a calf injury in Milwaukee last week, Bradley has come off the bench during the C’s last three contests, while Smart and Thomas have teamed up as the starting backcourt duo.

Bradley has averaged 17.7 points on 49 percent shooting during that trio of games, including a first quarter to remember against Dallas on Wednesday night.

Coach Brad Stevens subbed him in for Smart at the 6:54 mark of the opening frame when the Celtics held a narrow 12-7 advantage. Bradley stretched that lead in no time, as he single-handedly outscored the Mavericks 12-2 during a one-minute and 43-second span.

They eventually blew that lead and fell to Dallas, 106-102; however, the early energy that Bradley provided off the bench struck a positive note for the third straight game.

“He’s come out great offensively,” Turner said of Bradley’s recent string of performances. “Obviously defensively he’s always been good, but offensively his shots have been going in. He’s been confident and he’s been leading us.”

Stevens believes that leadership and that skillset will be displayed by Bradley no matter what role he’s playing.

“I don’t think it matters, starting or off the bench,” Stevens said after Wednesday's game. “I just think he’s a good player. [He] came in and made a bunch of shots in a flurry tonight. He’s very capable of doing that whether he starts or not.”

It’s the same story with the other three guards.

Smart has been interchangeable at the 1 and the 2 and he has provided impactful defense whether starting or coming off the bench during his first two seasons.

Turner has spent the majority of his career as a starter, but he has been heavily relied upon in a bench role this season.

Then of course there’s Thomas, who was Boston’s ultimate scoring spark off the bench last season.

His role, however, has recently been reversed as well. The 5-foot-9 guard has started the last eight games for the C’s while averaging 20.1 PPG. That production has not varied much from the 22.3 PPG he averaged off the bench during his first three games of the season.

Now the question is, should Thomas and Smart continue as the starting guards, or should Bradley be reinserted as the starting 2? That’s an inquiry that Stevens is unsure of as well.

“I don’t know [if Bradley] will start or come off the bench as we move forward,” said Stevens. “But he played well and did a lot of good things, and if somebody else is in that role, we’ll need them to lift us like he is.”

Thomas, a guy who is used to that sixth man role, says having such interchangeability among the guards is “very valuable.”

“The more the better, I guess,” he said. “We have a lot of different guys on this team that can do different things and do it at a high level and we believe in each other.”

All four have different skillsets, as Thomas noted, but they are all very strong in certain aspects of their game, so there is great parity among them.

It’s not easy deciding who should start or not, but given that they are all talented, unselfish, motivated players, that’s not a bad problem to have at all.