He was too busy trying to figure out how to avoid being buried under it.
”You realize that if you’re going to break records here, you’re probably going to break bad ones,” he recently said. ”Because none of the good ones are reachable.”
While achieving Red Auerbach status may not be on Stevens’ radar, in just his fifth season there’s no question the 41-year-old is also beyond being the wide-eyed former Butler University coach who arrived in Boston.
In a timeframe that has often already swallowed up most first-time NBA coaches, he’s managed to endear himself to a championship-driven city by helping Boston make an improbable run back to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics seemingly had their championship hopes derailed following the season-ending injuries to both of their offseason additions in Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving.
Yet, Boston won 55 games during the regular season and increased its win total for the fifth consecutive season under Stevens.
Despite having a roster that was down to just 11 healthy players by the end of their second-round win over Philadelphia, the Celtics enter their conference finals rematch with Cleveland on Sunday with a 7-0 record at home this postseason.
They are also the first team in NBA history to make it back to this point without their leading scorer from the regular season (Irving).
Most of the NBA community was taken aback after Stevens failed to receive a single vote from his peers when the National Basketball Coaches Association gave out its coach of the year award. The honor went to Toronto’s Dwane Casey, who was fired Thursday after his team was swept in the East semifinals by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Stevens has always downplayed the attention placed on coaching awards. He said that he thought Casey deserved the honor and didn’t expect him to be without a job for long.
Boston’s successes this season aside, Stevens said comfort remains a commodity this profession.
”I don’t think that I would ever define anybody in the coaching or playing shoes probably as comfortable,” he said. ”You’re just focused on what’s next. But it is basketball. There’s only so much you can do.”
But it’s also clear that one of the reasons that Casey lost his job was the Raptors‘ inability to challenge the Cavs in the postseason. Toronto was also swept out of the playoffs by Cleveland last season.
Most of the credit for Boston’s run thus far surely belongs to veteran Al Horford and the Celtics’ corps of young players Authentic Nate Solder Jersey , including Terry Rozier, Jaylen Brown and rookie Jayson Tatum.
Stevens agrees with that assessment and has remained true to his style by blending into the background in public, instead waiting for the huddle or practice to make his voice heard.
He believes his team’s mental toughness and grit have carried it more than anything he’s done.
Horford said Stevens hasn’t shied away from putting their young players in pressure situations.
”I think a lot of our guys have been thrown into the fire. I think it’s been designed that way so guys can just develop and learn as they go,” Horford said. ”But I think that one of the things that helps them is the way that coach helps them prepare and the way that he teaches them the game.”
There is also at least one person watching from afar who thinks a lot of the credit belongs to Stevens. And it just happens to be the same player he will spend the next few weeks trying to stop: LeBron James.
From Stevens’ ability to draw up plays out of timeouts, to his management of late-clock situations, to getting the best out of his roster, James has long been a fan.
”I think they are one of the most well-coached teams in our league,” James said. ”No matter who has played for them, he can put guys in position to succeed and get the most out of whoever has been in their lineup over the past few years. It’s not just this year.”
Stevens said he’s focused on living in the moment.
”From our standpoint, I feel like it’s been a lot of fun Cheap Customized Arizona Cardinals Jerseys ,” he said. ”We talked about it prior to the playoffs; nobody should love a challenge more, nobody should have more fun doing it. I think our guys have done a good job with that.”
And though he may never say it, so has their coach.
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AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Independence, Ohio contributed to this report.
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Madison Bumgarner isn’t easily impressed in pregame warmups.
Thursday night was different.
”I don’t put a lot of stock into the bullpen before the game, but today I could tell that the stuff was picking up a little,” the 2014 World Series MVP said.
Bumgarner pitched eight innings of three-hit ball for his first win this season, Mark Melancon earned his first save in a year and the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres 3-0.
”It was the Madison we know,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.
San Francisco won for the fourth time in five games and sent the last-place Padres to their fifth straight loss.
Bumgarner (1-2) struck out eight and walked two in his best start since coming off the disabled list. He also drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly.
”It was the type of game we’ve seen so many times from him,” Bochy said. ”We needed it because their guy pitched well, too.”
Bumgarner outdueled Tyson Ross (5-5) Eagles Cheap Jerseys , who gave up one run and four hits in seven innings. Ross struck out three and walked three.
”This is what you want to do as a pitcher, to go toe-to-toe against a guy,” he said. ”You just have to give your team a chance to win. He was little bit better tonight.”
Bumgarner began the season on the DL with a broken pinkie on his pitching hand sustained in his final spring training start when he was hit by a line drive. The ace left-hander was 0-2 with a 4.67 ERA in three previous outings since being reinstated.
Bumgarner’s sacrifice fly scored Pablo Sandoval in the fifth. Sandoval singled leading off the inning and Joe Panik followed with a double.
It was the fourth time in his career Bumgarner made a scoreless start and had the game-winning RBI, tying Stephen Strasburg and Fernando Valenzuela for the most such games by any pitcher in the last 40 years, according to STATS.
The Padres’ best scoring chance came in the fifth, when Jose Pirela was thrown out at home trying to score from second on Manuel Margot’s one-out double to deep right field. Giants catcher Buster Posey tagged out Pirela after a perfect relay from Andrew McCutchen and Panik.
”We had one chance offensively and we ran through a stop sign, which took away that one opportunity,” Padres manager Andy Green said.
Melancon, who started the season on the DL with a right elbow flexor strain, pitched the ninth for his first save since June 20 Daniel Kilgore Color Rush Jersey , 2017.
DROUGHT BUSTER
Bumgarner was winless in his six previous starts against the Padres. He was 0-4 with a 4.73 ERA during that stretch.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: OF Wil Myers (left oblique strain) and Maton (right lat strain) were reinstated from the 10-day DL, and RHP Colin Rea (right shoulder strain) was activated from the 60-day DL. … OF Franchy Cordero (right elbow bone spur) was transferred to the 60-day DL and RHP Phil Hughes (right rhomboid strain) was placed on the 10-day DL. … OF Franmil Reyes was optioned to Triple-A El Paso. … RHP Bryan Mitchell (right elbow impingement) had an MRI on Wednesday that showed inflammation in the affected area but no ligament damage, Green said. Mitchell is expected to start throwing in four or five days.
Giants: SS Brandon Crawford was reinstated from the paternity list and was in the starting lineup. … INF Kelby Tomlinson was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. … RHP Hunter Strickland (broken right pinkie) will have more X-rays in two weeks to determine if two pins he had surgically inserted on Wednesday can be removed. The 29-year-old reliever was injured when he punched a door in frustration after a blown save against Miami on Monday. … RHP Johnny Cueto (right elbow inflammation) will throw 40 pitches in a rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday. … RHP Jeff Samardzija (right shoulder tightness) threw 73 pitches in his second rehab start with Sacramento.
UP NEXT
LHP Clayton Richard (6-6, 4.31 ERA) will make his team-leading 16th start for the Padres. He’s 5-2 with a 3.04 ERA over his last eight. Giants RHP Chris Stratton (8-4, 4.22) hasn’t allowed a run over 13 2/3 innings in two career starts against San Diego.
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