As the young and energetic Oklahoma City Thunder sliced what had been a three-touchdown lead down to scraps, Doc Rivers put the game in the hands of Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels, Nate Robinson and Semih Erden.
Three of those names were part of a Boston bench that routinely coughed up leads last season and didn’t do a whole lot to establish them either. The other, Erden, was playing in Turkey and barely a blip on even the most hardcore fan's agenda.
Before anyone could say, ‘Here we go again,” Davis made a jumper, and then another. Then Erden went to work. Then it was Robinson, and Davis again. By the time Ray Allen, the lone starter still on the court, drilled a 3-pointer, the Celtics were back in command and on their way to a 92-83 victory over the Thunder Sunday. (Click here for a recap).
“Semih and Nate and Baby, that whole group, they were absolutely terrific,” Doc Rivers told reporters in Oklahoma City. “They won the game for us. It went from a six to a [17-point] lead with our bench on the floor.”
It was the Celtics' fifth straight win, and sixth in their first seven games. The only hiccup so far was a similar game in Cleveland when the starters squandered a lead and the reserves couldn’t hold off the surge.
Sunday night was different. Rivers wasn’t happy with his starters in the third quarter, but that aside, this was the best, most complete win of the season for the Celtics. It was also the best performance of the year from the bench.
Ironic that the second unit’s best player, Davis, had his lowest scoring night of the season, but points alone don’t come close to measuring his impact.
GLEN DAVIS FOR SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
The concept of the Sixth Man was created by Red Auerbach and was typically brilliant in an Auerbach kind of way. Not only did it provide a psychological benefit to a player who was not one of the exalted starting five, it was also a key strategic move. Take a player off the bench whose talent would generally equate with a starter and make him a game-changer who provides energy and versatility to go along with ability.
Glen Davis is good enough to start for most NBA teams. In his four years in the league he has figured out how to score in the post and on the perimeter. He’s a willing defender, if a little undersized, and what he lacks in height he makes up for in terms of hustle and an underrated ability to get off the floor more quickly than his opponents.
There’s no reason Davis couldn’t average 15-18 points and eight rebounds a night, but that wouldn’t make him a better player than he is right now, with his 13 points and five rebounds.
Right now, Davis is a fantastic role player playing a very important role. He’s shooting over 57 percent and playing more frontcourt minutes than anyone on the Celtics after Kevin Garnett. Rivers loves to pair his shooting ability with Garnett and the rest of the starters at the end of games because it forces the defense to cover everyone on the court and he is one of the few frontcourt players who can run with Rajon Rondo.
In a contract season, he came into this year wanting to know what his role was and after seven games it is very clear. He is the Sixth Man, the most important reserve the Celtics have, especially with injuries to Shaquille O’Neal and Kendrick Perkins, and by the end of the year he may be the best one in the league.   
WHY RAJON RONDO IS ELITE
If you were making a list of the top point guards in the NBA right now, the top three would have Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo. For all their greatness, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups are not part of this discussion anymore, although they are obviously all still excellent players.
Behind the top three, a long list of young and exciting point guards have lined up to take their shot at breaking through to that exalted level. Rondo has faced three of them in consecutive games – Brandon Jennings, Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook – and he has outplayed all of them.
Westbrook was very good in the third quarter for the Thunder, scoring 10 of his 16 points and leading the OKC comeback. But beyond that spurt he shot 37 percent and committed eight turnovers.
Westbrook is still learning how to play his game. He’s a scorer like Rose, but he’s learning to blend with a superstar in Kevin Durant. The Thunder rely on those two players to provide the majority of their offense, but at this point in their careers, they rely more on individual brilliance than team-wide efficiency.
Rondo, on the other hand, has found that rare balance of harmonic convergence with his teammates. Coming into Sunday’s game the Celtics had assisted on a staggering 71.6 percent of their made field goals, the best in the league, according to Hoop Data. The Thunder ranked last at 42.1 percent.
Rondo is the top assist man in the league, but it goes deeper than that. He’s not just cashing in on made jump shots and pick and pops. He’s orchestrating the entire Celtics offense and it is becoming one of the most efficient in the league and that’s why he’s at the head of the class.
THE TURNOVER STORY
This is very simple for the Celtics. When they don’t turn the ball over they are very difficult to stop in the halfcourt because everyone on the floor can shoot.
They turned it over just four times in the first half Sunday and built a 58-37 lead. They turned it over four times in the third quarter and the lead was down to single digits.
The Celtics began the season turning the ball over at an alarming rate, but in the last four games those numbers have drifted between respectable and Utah-esque. Not surprisingly their efficiency ratings have risen from lower third to top 10 over the last week, as well.
They seem to have tightened up their rebounding, particularly on the defensive end. The injuries remain a concern, but they are deeper than they have been in years. Turnovers continue to be the one thing that can hold them back on a game-by-game basis.