{"id":529978,"date":"2026-01-11T18:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/529978\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T18:10:12","slug":"theres-one-obvious-win-from-celtics-brutal-loss-to-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/529978\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s one obvious win from Celtics\u2019 brutal loss to Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

BOSTON \u2014 Baylor Scheierman<\/a> only knows one way: to play with an edge. To blow kisses after made baskets. To talk trash.<\/p>\n

He just hasn\u2019t always had the opportunity to show it. But, on Saturday, with the Celtics hosting the San Antonio Spurs in a primetime matchup between two of the NBA\u2019s top teams, Scheierman got the (somewhat unexpected) call.<\/p>\n

With the Celtics down both Josh Minott (ankle sprain) and Sam Hauser (hamstring tightness), the second-year Celtic tallied 10 points and 2 steals in 26 minutes off the bench. He hit two fourth-quarter threes, got a pivotal steal and dunk in the third, and ultimately posted his most minutes \u2014 and point total \u2014 since a win over the Detroit Pistons on November 26th.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t enough to carry the Celtics over the finish line; the Spurs pulled off a 100-95 victory, headlined by an elite two-way performane from Victor Wembenyama. But, it still stood out as a promising development in a Celtics season heavily centered around player development.<\/p>\n

Baylor Scheierman gets the Victor Wembenyama assignment<\/p>\n

In place of Hauser, who had started straight games for the Celtics, Hugo Gonzalez got his first-ever start at TD Garden. But, the Celtics rookie played just 13 minutes. And, Jordan Walsh, who started the previous 20 games for Boston, was initially tasked with guarding Victor Wembenyama \u2014 but he was limited to just 13 minutes as well.<\/p>\n

So, Scheierman ended up being the wing tasked with the Wemby defensive assignment. He ended up playing his second-most minutes of the season, and almost the entirety of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n

And, if you didn\u2019t have the 6\u20196 Scheierman guarding the 7\u20197 Wemby on your bingo card, neither did he he.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad no idea,\u201d Scheierman said when asked if he saw this kind of opportunity coming on Saturday. \u201cDidn\u2019t know if I was going to play tonight or not, and that\u2019s kind of just how it is. My job is to be ready when my number is called and just try to go out there and impact the game in any way I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far this season, the Celtics forward has found a way to do that almost every night. He\u2019s appeared in 33 of the team\u2019s 38 games, sometimes playing just a couple of minutes, while other nights enjoying more extended run.<\/p>\n

The counting stats don\u2019t jump off the page; on the season, Scheierman is averaging 2.8 points in 11.6 minutes per game. But, albeit in small sample sizes, he\u2019s been efficient in his minutes; he\u2019s shooting 51.5% from the field and 43.4% from three on the year.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also routinely drawn charges; among NBA players who have appeared in at least 25 games this season, Scheierman has averaged the fourth-most charges drawn per 36 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBaylor can play basketball,\u201d Jaylen Brown said earlier this season. \u201cBaylor is a smart, high-IQ player, great passer, can hit shots \u2014 Baylor thinks and knows the game. He\u2019s been putting it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baylor Scheierman makes an impact in limited minutes<\/p>\n

Some players struggle to make an impact in such limited minutes, but that hasn\u2019t been the case for Scheierman. Joe Mazzulla attributes that to his preparation and unwavering confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe works really hard, so he\u2019s always prepared,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cHis confidence never wavers \u2014 whether he plays well or whether he makes a mistake, his confidence in his ability to impact winning is always there, and that helps a lot. And he can make an impact regardless of how many minutes he plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheierman agrees with Mazzulla\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just kind of how I\u2019m wired,\u201d he said. \u201cI have a bunch of confidence in myself that I can play at this level and impact the game \u2014 play against anybody, and regardless if I played tonight or not, or played yesterday or not, that confidence doesn\u2019t change going into the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Scheierman does check in, he almost immediately begins talking trash to the opposing team\u2019s bench and blowing kisses toward the crowd.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering what he\u2019s saying, Scheierman doesn\u2019t have much for you.<\/p>\n

\u201cA whole lot of nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly, I\u2019m really just getting myself hyped up. I love being out there and competing. And when things are going like that, I just like to have a lot of fun and just talk to whoever\u2019s out there. That\u2019s pretty much what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, that\u2019s how he\u2019s always been.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing back to high school, college, and now here, I like to just play with a sort of flair on the court,\u201d Scheierman said. \u201cAnd, I like to bring a lot of energy into the game\u2026 I think it\u2019s contagious, too.<\/p>\n

With Scheierman on the floor, the Celtics outscored the Spurs by 3 points. After the loss, Mazzulla praised his timely rebounds and physicality, as well as his ability to space the floor.<\/p>\n

Scheierman thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be out there for the Celtics.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It was] so much fun \u2014 that\u2019s why you play basketball, for environments like that, like this one,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd obviously the fans in the Garden were rocking the night, and it was a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

It ultimately wasn\u2019t enough to carry the Celtics to victory over the Spurs.<\/p>\n

But, it was enough to earn the praise of his Celtics teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been amazing,\u201d Derrick White said. \u201cHe\u2019s always ready. It\u2019s tough; you never know how many minutes or if he\u2019s gonna play, but he\u2019s always ready. And when he comes in, he just does a lot of things for us, and I feel like it\u2019s always a positive segment when he\u2019s out there with us. And so credit to him, credit to the coaching staff for always keeping him ready. I think it\u2019s just that mindset that he has had.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOSTON \u2014 Baylor Scheierman only knows one way: to play with an edge. To blow kisses after made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,37650,3798,46,37728,21388,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-529978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-boston-celtics-articles","12":"tag-bostonceltics","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-celtics-features","15":"tag-celtics-news","16":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115877814325612375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}