Brad Stevens was interviewed by the media at Boston’s team shootaround. With Jaylen Brown out, Stevens was asked about changing the defense. “He didn’t play in our last game against them,” Stevens said. “The thing that I like about their team is that they can be big and physical… but can also go small and fast… it’s a really hot team, it’s a really good team… regardless of who’s available it’s going to be quite the challenge.”
With the team’s practice and preparing for the play-in, Coach Stevens said “Practice on Friday was good, and I thought practice today was good…guys seem to be engaged…we’re not playing a typical eight-seed, we’re playing a team that was not healthy and is super talented.”
When asked about the team’s numerous injuries, Stevens said “everybody practiced, so that’s encouraging… Rob will still be a daytime decision… we should have definitely more than yesterday.”
Washington poses a serious challenge to the Celtics. “They beat you different ways,” said Stevens. “They’re both a handful in a lot of ways and they’re surrounded by great players… this is a really good team and tomorrow’s going to be really tough… should be a lot of fun and I know our guys are looking forward to it.”
The Wizards ended up making a huge acquisition at the deadline in Daniel Gafford. Stevens said “Gafford, Hutchinson have both brought great energy, both brought a great paint attack… Gafford’s given them a different look… he is a little bit quicker to the rim and above the rim… that’s a good three guys [Gafford, Robin Lopez, Alex Len] that they can rotate their at the center… we all know the kind of game changer he [Ish Smith] can be.”
On how Brad Stevens prepared for the play-in, he said “I treat it a lot like a Thursday-Saturday NCAA tournament… you do hone-in on some details… the one day turnaround in a situation like this is ‘how can we get what we need to get’… that’s the balance that you’re dealing with… I was pleased with the way we prepared today.”
