The Celtics were not prepared to play the Nets on Friday night, falling behind 12 points after only three minutes. Joe Mazzulla is not known for overreacting, but he couldn’t help but call a timeout after his team’s poor start to try to get them back on track.
Despite the slow start, Mazzulla quickly found a major flaw. The starting frontcourt of Xavier Tillman and Al Horford was never going to be a viable combination against this fast-paced Nets team. That combination had a +43.1 net rating in 24 minutes in four games entering Friday night, following a successful season last year.
Tillman had fallen out of the rotation for the last few games amid the emergence of Neemias Queta so putting alongside Horford was a reasonable idea in theory to buy some minutes. However, Tillman and Horford did not match up well against the Nets guards after switches. More importantly, Tillman was not a willing shooter, misfiring on his first three shots and turning down other open looks on the perimeter.
Mazzulla was observed discussing with Tillman on the bench several times following those situations, and he ultimately benched Tillman for the final 47 minutes of the Celtics’ overtime victory.
“I mean, it’s hard at times if guys are in and out of lineups and sub-patterns are different, get into your rhythm, but at the end of the day, they just have to feel empowered that when they’re open, they have to shoot it,” Mazzulla explained. “They work at it every day. I watch them do it. I trust them, and obviously you want to pass and move the ball, but when you pass up a first good look, as good as defenses are in the NBA it’s harder to generate those late in the clock, and so they just have to keep being understanding and empowered that I want them to shoot when they’re open.”
With Tillman lacking confidence, Mazzulla managed to adjust on the fly despite missing three rotation players. He elected to split up center minutes between Horford and Queta for the rest of the night while starting Queta in Tillman’s place for the start of the second half. He also leaned more heavily on Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser to play with one big on the floor for the majority of the final three quarters.
That formula hasn’t worked every night for the Celtics but it was the right choice against this Nets squad. With the Celtics struggling through a horrific 3-point shooting night and getting outworked on the glass, they leaned on their defense to get the game to overtime. Ultimately, their offense clicked in the extra fame as the hosts posted 14 points on 66 percent shooting in the final period.
It was not pretty but Mazzulla made the tough decisions necessary to get the win without overtaxing his veterans in Horford (31 minutes) and Jrue Holiday (36 minutes). Horford sat out the first two minutes of overtime to keep his minutes down while Pritchard and Hauser logged heavy minutes to help keep the team afloat amid an ugly offensive night.
“One thing I can tell you is I learned to trust Joe pretty quickly,” Horford said. “He has a good feel for the game, and I just trust his judgment, and I feel the same way. Prepare, do the things that I need to do and we’re ready to go and we’re sticking to what we do. We just have to do things consistent. I think that’s the key for us.”
It’s uncertain how long the Celtics will have to play this way, as there are no deadlines for Jaylen Brown or Luke Kornet’s returns. Mazzulla’s ability to respond mid-game is increasing with each passing year, and it helped Boston secure a tough victory on Friday night.
