Brad Stevens might be telling the truth. He might have no strategic reason for publicly stating whom he considers the Celtics’ five best players.



“I’m not that smart,” Stevens said Sunday after practice. “I’m not very strategic. Strategery is hard.”



Though he has rarely if ever elevated groups of players like that in the past, Stevens might be doing it now simply because the truth is obvious. In no particular order, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward are Boston’s most important players. Still, it’s new for Stevens to so openly put one group of guys on a pedestal, like he has since the offseason with Boston’s main cogs. Stevens has been forthcoming all along that the Celtics’ key pieces are obvious this season.



“Everything we do,” Stevens said after Friday night’s win against Denver, “has got to be around complementing them and...