As the Celtics dropped below .500 after another loss to the Pelicans, their new acquisition, Evan Fournier, had a disappointing Boston debut. The former Magic shooting guard did not come into the game with large expectations. Fournier was mostly seen as a solid offensive player who would provide scoring off the bench. Coming off a game-winner in his last game in Orlando, Fournier came in averaging almost 20 points-per-game this season.
Fournier’s offensive talent was not on display Monday as he went 0-10 from the field and 0-5 from 3-point range. After 33 minutes of play, Fournier’s only meaningful stat was his two rebounds. In fact, Fournier is only the fourth player in the shot-clock era to go scoreless with at least ten shots in his debut for a team. What’s worse is that the Pelicans margin of victory was only six points, so just a few points from Fournier could have changed the Celtics fortunes.
However, this is not a sign for the Celtics to panic. It is just one game after all. In just a week, Evan Fournier has left a team he’s been with for years, moved across the country, a joined a brand new team in which he was thrown into a system that he doesn’t have a handle on yet. All that to say, Fournier is still capable of putting up 20 points-per-game. He is still capable of being a solid scorer off the bench, which he likely will be after he has time to adjust to his new teammates and the Celtics style of play. Fournier can’t be expected to go out and put up big numbers for a team he’s never played on before and with players he only just met. The season is still salvageable for the Celtic’s and Fournier will most likely play a key role in that should it come to pass.
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