NEW YORK — When Jonas Jerebko was traded to the Celtics last February, he almost immediately became a key cog in the rotation as the team made its final surge toward a playoff berth.

Last summer he signed a two-year deal to stay in Boston largely because the team had given him an opportunity after his role had slowly faded over five years with the Pistons. The Celtics had given him hope.

Although contracts come with plenty of guaranteed money, they do not come with guaranteed minutes. And over the first 37 games of this season, Jerebko was on the court for just 12.9 minutes per game, the second-lowest mark of his career. He could have sulked; instead, he sought solutions.

“If you’re not playing, a key is a coach that communicates, and Brad [Stevens] does that very well,’’ Jerebko said Monday. “He knows what he wants, and if you’re not playing and you go up to him and ask him, ‘What do I need to do?’ he’s going to give you a straight answer.’’

In this case, it was mostly a numbers crunch. With a deep roster like Boston’s comes deep decisions, and the hard truth was that not every player would be satisfied with his role. So Stevens told Jerebko to stay locked in and ready.

“Hey, play to your strengths,’’ Stevens said. “Be the best version of you that you can be. Here’s what we need you to be to be impactful for our team, and then there’s other guys that are doing that, too.’’

Jerebko’s versatility had always been an asset, and in recent weeks he has become an important part of the Celtics’ thriving second unit, as he and 7-footer Kelly Olynyk spread the floor with their effective long-range shooting, and guards such as Marcus Smart and Evan Turner attack.

“Everybody in this league can play ball,’’ Jerebko said. “There’s only so many spots in this league, so you’ve got to find your niche. Even the guys that aren’t playing can play ball. They could play in any other league in the world and make a lot of money, but everybody wants to be in the NBA, so you’ve just got to take every opportunity you get.’’

Over those first 37 games, Jerebko averaged 12.9 minutes and shot just 35.8 percent from the field and 39.4 percent on 3-pointers while averaging 3.1 points.

Over the last 12 games, he is averaging 16.9 minutes, shooting 50 percent overall and a blistering 52.2 percent on 3-pointers while averaging 6 points per contest. There is clarity about his role, at least for now, and that helps.

“He’s playing well,’’ Stevens said. “We need his versatility and I think that we’ve talked about that and I think as the season goes on, we’ll need it even more. We haven’t played him hardly at all at the small forward recently, but there will be times we need him to do that, simply because of bodies and everything else.’’

There is a chance that time will come Tuesday, as starting small forward Jae Crowder sat out Monday’s practice because of a minor leg injury. Crowder said he was hurt in the third quarter of the loss to the Magic Sunday night.

He said it felt as if he had been kicked in the shin, but had no recollection of that happening. Crowder said Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte believes he could have a strained calf muscle, an injury that would likely cause him to miss time.

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The Celtics hoisted 46 3-point attempts in their 119-114 loss to Orlando, setting a franchise record and tying for the third-most attempts ever in an NBA game. But after reviewing the film, Stevens said they actually passed up a few long-range jumpers.

“To be honest, as I watched the threes in the first three quarters, I thought we probably could have made extra passes and shot five more,’’ Stevens said. “And then at the end, we shot seven threes as we were trying to come back in the last minute. That skews the numbers a little bit.

“For the most part, we took good shots.’’

If the Celtics had taken those five more 3-point attempts, they would have broken the NBA record of 49.

Stevens said that Orlando’s tendency to pack the interior on defense made the 3-pointer an important part of the game plan. So might the Celtics soon break the NBA record for 3-pointers in a game?

“Depends on how they’re playing you,’’ Stevens said. “Take what the defense gives you, right? That’s what you’ve got to do.’’

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @adamhimmelsbach.