BOSTON — The Celtics got a first glimpse of the Torrey Craig experience on Wednesday night and the midseason addition did not disappoint.
Despite playing in his first game since Dec. 30, Craig showed little rust in a well-rounded performance. He drilled his first shot attempt, a corner 3 off a Jayson Tatum dish midway through the second quarter. He added a transition 3 in the final minute of the second quarter as well, continuing a promising trend with his shooting from the past three seasons. Craig began his career as a questionable shooter, (35 percent in career) but he’s stayed above 39 percent for the past three seasons on pretty solid volume (3.1 attempts per game).
“It was crazy,” Craig said of his impressions of the Garden. “The atmosphere, the crowd, the fans. It’s just a joy to play in front of a crowd like that. And yeah, man, I’m just glad I made my debut in the Garden. I’m glad I hit my first shot.”
Craig should be getting some of the best looks of his career in Boston surrounded by this team’s offensive firepower and he showed good decision making early on in that area. His attempts came within the flow of the offense while wide open and he did not hesitate to make the extra pass from the corner on another possession in the second quarter which led to a Tatum 3.
If the jump shot remains consistent, where Craig could be especially useful for Boston is on the defensive end. He showed promising signs on that front on Wednesday as well against a wing-heavy Spurs squad.
Joe Mazzulla has been leaning into double bigs a lot this year (with great success) but it’s also leading to more minutes for the likes of Horford, Porzingis and Kornet than what would be ideal on some nights. Craig was able to play some power forward on Thursday night in a lineup with Kornet and later Porzingis surrounded by four shooters.
At 6-foot-7, Craig has the size and strength to play some power forward around one of those bigs. He’s a good rebounder for his frame and has been known as a defense-first player throughout his career.
There’s going to be a learning curve for Craig in Boston, which was evident as Craig spoke with Joe Mazzulla at length during a timeout following his first stint. However, the defensive instincts were there for Craig despite the long layoffs. He helped force a turnover against Jerry Sochan one minute into his opening stint He added a block in the second quarter and showed good defensive instincts for much of the night, providing necessary help and solid rotations.
“We’re professionals,” Craig said. “It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. I kind of adjusted as I was out there, kind of picked up on a lot of things out there. And I’ll continue to do that.”
Whether there is any role available for Craig when Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday return to the lineup after the All-Star break remains to be seen. However, it’s evident already he provides a defensive upgrade over Hauser in games when the sharpshooter is struggling with is back.
Craig should also provide Mazzulla with the option of playing smaller with one big without losing as much defensive toughness and size.
“He’s got an important role just because of his versatility, right?” Mazzulla said. “So it’s going to take time for him to understand the language and the things that we do on both ends of the floor, and you can watch as much film and walk through it, but until he’s in the game, it’s going to just continue to be a conversation of how we could utilize his versatility on both ends of the floor. So he did some of that tonight with his defensive versatility, and making those two shots.”
With an underwhelming set of free agents available on the buyout market this season, the Celtics look like they found the right fit to provide some extra insurance for their quest to repeat.
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