Celtics have returned with an important victory from the All-Star Break. Daniel Theis was his team’s top scorer – but this was not the only reason why he had a lot to laugh about.
Yesterday’s Friday had some positive highlights for Celtics rookie Daniel Theis. His colleagues from the German national team won their World Cup qualifying match against Serbia in the absence of the NBA stars, and later in the evening (local time) Theis was a guest of the Celtics in Detroit – and became his team’s top scorer with 19 points in the 110:98 victory.
Oh, and a few hours before it was something:”It was a great day for me,”said Theis,”Germany beat Canada in hockey. When I sat down at breakfast and assistant coach Scott Morrison came in, I had to grin – because he’s from Canada.”
Speaking of Canada, the Toronto Raptors (41-17), who are known to be enthroned on top seed in the East, lost their game at the Milwaukee Bucks, so that the Celtics (41-19) were able to approach the competition in one game.
In Detroit was a strong bank of the Sieggarant. 65 points generated the second unit and put the second guard of the pistons clearly in the shade (21). This is extremely important for the young Celtics team, which recently often depended on the production of Kyrie Irving. But that wasn’t the case at all that night – also because Uncle Drew tried to set the stage for his fellow players.
This also benefited Theis, who saw more minutes (21) than usual due to Aron Baynes’ elbow injury. With his untiring efforts he achieved his career high of 19 points including strong odds from the field (8/10 FG, 2/2 3FG), 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
As usual, there were also some Highlight-Plays, at the end of which the German dangles from the ring after a dunk. Head coach Brad Stevens also praised this achievement:”It is an important factor for us all year round. He’s a very, very reliable player.”