Sam Cassell has won two NBA titles — with the Rockets in 1994 and 1995 — more than the rest of the Celtics combined. He has also been to the conference finals two other times, with Ray Allen and the Bucks in 2001 and Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves in 2004.
NBA. Doc Rivers’ track record suggests he rewards playing time based on what guys have done during practices and games.
Sam Cassell’s track record suggests he’s done enough during his personal postseason history to reserve court time for the Celtics’ playoff run despite his inconsistencies on the parquet. Somewhere along that line, Rivers had to tweak his philosophy.
There have been some hair-pulling moments, even for the bald backup point guard, like his errant pass to Kevin Garnett late in a Game 6 loss to the Hawks and Cassell’s willingness to take nearly every open shot he encounters, regardless of a 2-of-8 night from the floor. But he’s looked equally as smooth at times, especially his 13-point effort in the Celtics’ Game 5 win in the first round, when he also played tremendous defense.
Rivers credits Cassell’s highlight moments to a simplification of the offense. They only called four plays for Cassell to run during Game 5, but Rivers kept him on the floor with Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, as well.
“With those guys on the court, I’m getting open shots,” said Cassell, who averaged 5.9 points and 1.3 assists in the first round against the Hawks. “I’ll make open shots.”
Cassell also knows his time on the court dictates his performance. While he played an average of 17.5 minutes in 17 games with the Celtics in the regular season, he only played in 13.3 minutes per game in the first round. Meanwhile, starter Rajon Rondo has seen an increase of about one minute per game in the playoffs.
“I’m just trying to get some minutes out there,” Cassell said. “It’s hard to do things in four or five minutes out there on the basketball court. I’m comfortable with it, but this is my time of the year.
“I love the playoff basketball. I understand what it means. I understand what it takes to be successful this time of the year. I’m just trying to get on the court. Rajon is having a hell of a [postseason] right now, so he’s keeping me on the sideline.”