Baylor Scheierman enjoys breakout performance in Celtics’ win over Nets
The Boston Celtics were without both their star forwards, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, in Tuesday’s 104-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. They needed someone to step up in their absence. The C’s received that needed boost from an unexpected source in rookie Baylor Scheierman.
The contribution guard Payton Pritchard has given the Celtics this season has already been paramount and widely discussed. However, Scheierman was not on many people’s Bingo cards as an impactful bench piece right now. He changed that narrative on Tuesday.
Scheierman played 15:55 minutes in the victory, becoming just the fourth Celtic ever to score 20 points in 16 minutes or less, according to Dick Lipe (via Steve Bulpett). His 20-point contribution was second to only one Celtic scorer, Kristaps Porziņģis, who led the way with 25.
The 24-year-old Scheierman was touted as a sharpshooter in college at Creighton University, but had not showed his skill at the professional level until recently. He set his former career-best scoring output (15 points) just 13 days prior, against the Philadelphia 76ers on Mar. 6. These two performances are a notable improvement over his 2.6 career average points per game early in his young NBA career.
The young rookie is no replacement for Tatum or Brown. But, as Scheierman continues to develop and improve for the Celtics, he could emerge as a reliable wing scorer off the bench.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
