ORLANDO — Less than an hour before tip-off on Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics officially ruled Jaylen Brown out for their game against the Orlando Magic. He joined Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford on the injury report. With only three games remaining and the Celtics locked into the second seed in the East, health took center stage as the top priority.
But Boston still had to put a team on the floor. That left an unlikely cast of characters to carry the load. Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet are consistent faces in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation, but outside of them, the evening was defined by players trying to find their place on the Celtics (and in the NBA).
Baylor Scheierman showed off some crafty finishing at the rim. Miles Norris scored his first NBA points. Drew Peterson moved his feet well on the defensive end.
For Mazzulla and the Celtics, one Magic game means nothing
Simultaneously, Neemias Queta went from poster dunks to missed rebounds and turned around on defense. G League MVP failed to make a single shot. Jordan Walsh was hesitant to shoot the ball after a quick catch in the corner, much to the dismay of an onlooking Mazzulla on the sidelines.
These are the games where players get to show off what they can do in the big leagues. Opportunities are hard to come by. Yet in Mazzulla’s eyes, this singular contest doesn’t change his outlook on anyone who saw their minutes bumped.
“Zero. One game doesn't do that,” he said. “It's a whole body work over the course of games, practices, workouts, film sessions. There's not one thing that you do tonight that would impact what they've done over the course of a season.”
For the guys who dominate screen time on a nightly basis, evaluation is easy, especially for fans. Watch the game, form an opinion. Even for those who religiously follow the team, the concept is straightforward. Watch games, analyze games, break down trends, form an educated opinion. But what fans watch on TV every night is a fraction of the entire story.
So, when it comes to the players who rarely get featured in Mazzulla’s rotation, understanding the full picture is impossible without the peak behind the curtain that Boston’s coaching staff gets.
“To me, it's all the same,” Mazzulla said, likening work behind the scenes to the players’ in-game performances. “But it all adds up. It's not just one thing. It's a combination of all the things that go into getting ready to execute on both ends of the floor.”
Guys like Walsh, Scheierman, Queta, and the Celtics two-way guys have worked tirelessly all seasons, striving for improvement. Just because they may not always get the chance to put their progress does not mean it’s non-existent. And a one-game sample size shouldn’t sway that thought process in either direction.
For all of those guys, games like Wednesday night’s are meaningful. While Mazzulla may not see their play as a finite indicator of their development, it’s a chance for them to personally show it off.
It’s a moment full of pressure.
Pressure that Mazzulla understands.
“I would never tell someone not to put too much pressure [onto something],” he said. “That's not that's realistic when you're playing for the Celtics and you're trying to make it in the NBA.
“So, at the end of the day, it's just focused on execution and doing what you do and relying on the work that you have. But there's no such thing as too much or not enough pressure. It's just, it's life.”
Pressure that may not even exist, depending on the player.
“You try not to put pressure at all," Pritchard told reporters in the locker room post-game. "You allow your work to show and be ready for the moment. Some guys did a really good job tonight. We will have another two good opportunities, so it is really good for them.”