The Celtics pulled off an incredible comeback win at home over the Heat, but it took a while to get there as things looked brutally ugly in the first half with the team trailing, 59-38 at recess. Joe Mazzulla was throwing things at the wall to try to find his best lineup combos, and he finally settled into some things midway through the third quarter.
The moves helped Boston mount the giant comeback and secure a 98-96 victory after a Derrick White game-winning three-pointer and game-sealing block moments later. A big part of the comeback was figuring out how to use the now three-man center combination of Neemias Queta, Luka Garza, and the newly acquired Nikola Vucevic, who was making his Celtics debut.
Boston started with a double-big lineup, with Garza and Queta on the floor together. That unusual combo started in the unlikely win over Houston earlier in the week, but things didn’t go nearly as well on Friday night. The Cs looked slow and unathletic, and the Heat looked like they were flying right past them to the basket left and right.
Luka Garza may be odd man out of the rotation
But in the second half, Joe was quick to ditch the double-big lineups and rolled with one center surrounded by shooters for most of the rest of the game. The move worked brilliantly, and a lineup with Vooch at center, along with White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Baylor Scheierman, fueled the comeback.
It was great to see things clicking, especially with Vucevic getting heavily involved, but it came at the expense of Garza, who didn’t see the floor again after starting the second half. He played just 10 minutes, despite starting, and by the end of hte game, it felt like there may be no good way for this team to get all three centers going on a nightly basis.
The double-big look was forced and awkward. None of the three big men is suited to play power forward in the modern NBA. They should go back to it, and it can be effective at times, but it’s hard to imagine it’ll be a huge part of the game plan going forward.
That means somebody is going to get iced out, and that player is most likely to be Garza, who has been nothing but excellent this year. Unfortunately for him, it looks like Vooch is going to settle into that backup center role. He put up 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists in 26 minutes while clearly still trying to figure things out.
It’s going to be a work in progress, but you can already see how Vooch is going to bring an important element on offense and some real playmaking, scoring, and dynamism that was missing from the frontcourt.
Knowing Mazzulla, it’s important not to overreact to one game, as he has continued toying with the rotations all season, and I hardly doubt he’s going to settle into something after just one game. For example, Jordan Walsh was a DNP-CD on Friday night, but the wing rotation has been in constant flux. I'd be more surprised if Walsh is on the outs due to Vooch's arrival, but you never know.
The playoffs are fast approaching, and with the trade deadline past, it’s time to start figuring out how things are going to look for the postseason.
Vooch looks like he’ll clearly be a big part of the scheme going forward, and Queta obviously isn’t going anywhere. Despite all his hard work this season, it appears as if Garza is going to have to wait to earn his spot back and settle for making a big impact in a smaller role.