BOSTON — Baylor Scheierman never doubted he could do this.
Not when he fell out of the rotation early on this season, not when he had a tough shooting stretch last Summer League in Las Vegas.
The 25-year-old Celtics forward always saw this kind of success coming.
“I’m super confident in my abilities,” Scheierman said after the Celtics’ win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
That much has been evident from the first time he donned Celtics green.
In his two years in Boston, Scheierman has
blown kisses and concocted a myriad of new celebrations. Last year, he invented Jayson Tatum’s wrist celebration. This year, he’s rocked his own ‘thumbs up’ celebration in an ode to the fact he’s playing with a broken thumb.
Scheierman has probably talked more trash to opposing teams’ benches than any player on the team, and carried himself with a swagger more reminiscent of a perennial All-Star than a role player trying to break through.
That seemingly unwavering confidence has translated to plenty of on-court success. And, Wednesday’s win over the Thunder was the latest example of just how successful a season it’s been.
In a 119-109 Celtics win, Scheierman tallied 11 points in 20 minutes, hitting 3 of his 7 three-point attempts. He grabbed 5 rebounds and forced Shai Gilgeous-Alexander into a turnover. The Celtics outscored the Thunder by 11 points in his minutes, tied with Payton Pritchard for the best plus-minus on the team.
Still, as per usual, Wednesday’s box score doesn’t begin to capture Scheierman’s impact on the ball game.
“I thought Baylor was great — his shot making,” said Joe Mazzulla. “He was great defensively on his match-ups. He’s a guy that just makes plays.“
Those winning plays can be difficult to quantify and even harder to explain. But, you watch Scheierman play for just a few minutes, and it becomes evident: when he’s on the court, he makes the Celtics better.
His teammates have taken notice, too.
“He can do a little of everything,” Sam Hauser said last month. “At times, it’s really hard to take him off the floor.”
Scheierman’s ability to create chaos on the offensive glass has been a major strength — nearly every time a shot goes up, Scheierman is in the action, whether he’s trying to tip the ball out to a teammate, deflect it off an opposing player, or simply wreak havoc.
There’s no perfect science to crashing the offensive glass, and Scheierman just follows his instincts.
“Shoot, it really just comes down to a feel thing,” he said. “You’re not perfect all the time, but that’s one area they give you a lot of freedom to be able to just crash or stay — so it’s really just a feel thing.”
Mazzulla doesn’t know exactly how to explain Scheierman’s penchant for winning plays, either.
“It’s just who he is,” said Joe Mazzulla. “He just has a knack for making plays. He doesn’t want to be defined by one thing. He doesn’t care if he shoots, he doesn’t care if he has to play defense, crash, take care of the ball. He just has a knack for making basketball plays. It’s a huge strength of his.”
How does Scheierman explain that knack?
“Playing hard, I guess,” he said with a smile. “Just having a little bit of a feel for the game, and a nose for the ball, I guess. And then just competing super hard on both ends of the floor.”
Amazingly, Baylor Scheierman’s impact hasn’t diminished since Jayson Tatum’s return
On the outside, it wasn’t clear what kind of season Baylor Scheierman was going to have.
Last year, he spent most of the season with the Maine Celtics. This year, he began the year on the outskirts of the rotation but became increasingly important as the season progressed.
Scheierman averaged 7.4 minutes per game in October, 14.3 minutes in November, 16 minutes in January, and 24.3 minutes in February, his on-court opportunities steadily climbing as the season progressed.
With Jayson Tatum back in the lineup, one would assume Scheierman’s minutes would be significantly reduced.
But, he’s actually played more in March than any month this season; he’s averaging 7.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in 27.5 minutes of action. His shooting numbers have actually increased since breaking his thumb late last month; Scheierman is shooting 39.2% from three this month, up from 32.7% in February.
Scheierman is no longer starting — Jayson Tatum reclaimed his spot in the starting lineup when he made his season debut on March 6th — but he’s continued to play a pivotal part in the Celtics’ success.
That might be a surprise to some, who saw him struggle in Las Vegas in July and begin the season toward the bottom of the depth chart.
But Scheierman smiled when asked if he was surprised at the success he’s had this season. The answer was an obvious ‘no.’
“The work I put in coming into my rookie year, coming into this year, has prepared me for this,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s just taking it one day at a time, one game at a time. I’m super blessed and grateful for the opportunity, and I just try to take advantage of that. But to answer your question, no, I’m not surprised. I’m super confident in my abilities.”
