Boston Celtics: Avery Bradley Plays Well in His First Career Start

With Rajon Rondo out, Avery Bradley got the chance for his first career start last night. And to be honest, he was probably the only bright spot for the Boston Celtics, who fell to the Phoenix Suns, 79-71.

Bradley was the only player on the Celtics with energy and at times he seemed like the best player on the floor. In fact, he had the highest plus/minus at plus-two, and the only player on the team to shoot over 50 percent.

In his 33 minutes (likely the most he has played in his career), he scored 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting,  pulled down four rebounds, dished out an assist and had three steals.

Not to mention the fact that he absolutely shut down two-time MVP and surefire Hall of Famer Steve Nash. He held Nash to 11 points, and honestly, none of those points were Bradley's fault.

Nash hit one deep two while Bradley was in a rotation, he scored a layup when neither Kevin Garnett nor Jermaine O'Neal picked him up while Bradley was fighting through a screen, another basket was scored while Pierce was on him, and the rest of his points were scored at the foul line.

His three steals also all came on Nash. He picked Nash's pocket, stole a pass to Nash and stole Nash's dribble another time. On the defensive end, he was not afraid at all to get into Nash's face and play him full court and it clearly threw Nash off of his game.

Most importantly though, this game was great for Bradley's confidence, which is constantly fluctuating, and his playing time in the future. The more confidence Bradley has, the better he will play and the more playing time he gets, the more confidence he gets.

In every game he has played more than 20 minutes this season, he has scored in double-digits and had at least two steals.

I've been saying all along that Bradley has great potential and will one day be a great player. He's starting to prove it, and with the more minutes he will hopefully get, he will continue to play lock-down defense, provide energy and make an efficient contribution on the offensive end.