Advertisement

Boston’s Aaron Nesmith ready to keep working on his game after 21-point outing with Maine Celtics

Justin Quinn
·3 min read

If you have not seen much of second-year Boston Celtics small forward Aaron Nesmith this season, a lot of it has to do with the lack of playing time for the South Carolina native to snap an ongoing shooting slump that has plagued his sophomore season in the NBA.

Shooting just 23.4% from deep this campaign after closing out last season hitting 37% from beyond the arc, Nesmith needs playing time to shake off the rust, but can’t get it without shooting better. An opportunity to play for the Maine Celtics this past weekend however seemed to do the trick as he ended up logging 21 points while hitting 2-of-7 3-point attempts.

“It’s just fun to be able to play the game of basketball, no matter where it is,” offered Nesmith when asked about the experience. “I just love playing.”

“There was an opportunity to go play in Maine for the day, so I said ‘I’ll go play and have fun, win another basketball game,'” he added.

Asked about how he was feeling regarding his game given the inconsistent playing time, Nesmith opened up a bit. “It’s frustrating.”

“My shot’s not where I want it to be, and I need to find my consistency with that,” Nesmith explained.

“I need to get back to what I’ve been doing regarding that. But besides that, just continuing to make the most of opportunities on the defensive side of the floor, even when my shot is not falling, and making sure I can still make an impact without making jumpers.”

With more opportunities like this moving forward with the Maine Celtics, it may be possible to help the Vanderbilt product find more of the sort of rhythm he will need to start hitting those jumpers like he did to close out last season.

Then, he’ll have that foundation of high-energy defensive play to build off of while trying to earn a spot in the Celtics’ rotation.

Nesmith could well end up a casualty of moves made around the margins to improve the team, but he also could be one of the few young faces left when the dust settles after the 2022 trade deadline passes, so investing in his development in the G League makes sense either way.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

[mm-video type=video id=01frv7aabd9j01j6hkf0 playlist_id=none player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01frv7aabd9j01j6hkf0/01frv7aabd9j01j6hkf0-6a58d0584530500281f6dc6f3546bea9.jpg]

[lawrence-related id=68275,68078,68076,67725]

[listicle id=68090]

[vertical-gallery id=68057]

1

1