Boston Celtics’ Brad Wanamaker (9) plays against the Detroit Pistons during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Boston, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer) Michael Dwyer/Associated PressAP

 

The NBA playoffs are a time when teams shorten their rotations with the main players getting more minutes.

As the Celtics prepare for the postseason, which opens Aug. 17, by playing eight regular-season games at Disney World, Coach Brad Stevens moved in that direction against the Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers.

Stevens used a 10-man rotation in both of those games, but other than Marcus Smart, the bench players saw a decline in average minutes.

Brad Wanamaker opened with a 26-minute stint against the Bucks, then played just 10 minutes in the win over the Trail Blazers while Enes Katner played 20 minutes against the Trail Blazers after getting only 11 minutes in the loss to the Bucks.

Semi Ojeleye went 15 minutes against the Bucks, then 10 minutes against the Trail Blazers. Rookie Grant Williams, averaging 15.3 minutes this season, got off the bench for only 4:15 and 7:12 in the first two games.

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The Celtics played the Miami Heat on Tuesday night, looking to improve their chances of being the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Wanamaker was effective against the Bucks, getting 14 points on 5 for 9 shooting to go with six rebounds. He took advantage of the fact that Kemba Walker is on a minutes restriction due to a knee issue.

“Brad’s going to play a significant role for our team,” said Stevens. “Do I know the exact minutes he’s going to play? No. But I know this. When Kemba’s minutes restriction gets lifted, he’s going to play a lot more. So there’s only so many minutes to go around.

“But Brad understands that. Brad is a guy who is willing and ready to play 28-32 minutes on any given night or 10-12. That’s a hard position to be in. I have a lot of respect for people that have to balance that appropriately.”

Williams had the most significant dip in playing time in the opening two games in Florida.

Much of that was based on matchups since the Celtics faced bigger teams in the Bucks with Brook Lopez and the Trail Blazers with Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins. Williams has spent some of his first NBA season getting some minutes at center in an undersized lineup.

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Rookies Romeo Langford and Carsen Edwards plus second-year center Robert Williams were DNPs in the opening two games while Vincent Poirier, Javonte Green and two-way players Tacko Fall and Tremont Waters have been on the inactive list.

“I’d love to get Romeo in, I’d love to get Grant in, I’d love to get Carsen in, I’d love to get all these guys in,” said Stevens. “But there’s only so many minutes in a game and we’ve got a pretty deep team, especially at the wing. Even when I call home, my kids are asking me who’s going to play all the time and how much everybody is going to play.

“The group of people that I’m always going to be most worried about here in the bubble are probably the same group I worry about when we’re at home, the guys that don’t play. We had a bunch of guys that had to be inactive. I credit their spirit. They’re in there (after practice) working right now and playing four-on-four.”

BACK-TO-BACK

The Celtics are right back on the court Wednesday against the shorthanded Brooklyn Nets (9 p.m., ESPN and NBC Sports Boston).

The Nets’ injury list this week included 11 players, including five players who opted out due to COVID-19. Brooklyn (31-35 entering Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee) will likely finish seventh or eighth in the conference.

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The games with the Heat and Nets are the only time the Celtics will be playing on back-to-back nights at Disney World.

FOUR WEEKS IN THE BUBBLE

Wednesday marks four weeks since the Celtics arrived in central Florida and they’ll remain a minimum of three weeks through at least the first round of the playoffs. Stevens said that he constantly checks in with wife Tracy and children Brady and Kinsley.

“As I’ve told Tracy, they seem to be doing fine. They don’t need to talk to me much,” joked Stevens. “No, I Zoom or on FaceTime a few times a day with them. I’ve learned how to watch TV shows over Zoom together. It’s not ideal, but it is what it is.”

Stevens said that he was hitting the golf courses at Disney World with Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel before the games started last week.

OLYNYK REUNION

The Celtics will meet up with former Boston first-round pick Kelly Olynyk against the Heat.

After spending four seasons with the Celtics, Olynyk is closing out his third year with the Heat. The forward is averaging a career-low eight points in 61 games.

In the first two games in Disney World, Olynyk shot 8 for 17 on 3-pointers and had 20 points in a win over the Denver Nuggets and 17 in a loss to the Toronto Raptors.

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