The Boston Celtics returned home on Wednesday night for a game against the new-look San Antonio Spurs. With De’Aaron Fox now next to Victor Wembanyama, fans who bought tickets to this game got way more than they bargained for. And to make the evening even more exciting, Torrey Craig made his Celtics debut.
Craig inked a contract with the Celtics on the night of the trade deadline. Boston dealt Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets with a second-round pick, dumping his salary, meaning they had an open roster spot they needed to fill. Craig filled that spot, but he was out for a couple of games before Wednesday night.
And it didn’t take long for Craig to connect with the Boston crowd.
Torrey Craig has value as a defender and could have a chance to crack Celtics playoff rotation
Craig checked in at the 4:14 mark in the first quarter. He was the third cub off the bench behind Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet. The TD Garden Crowd gave him a nice pop as he walked onto the parquet for the first time.
Within seconds (by the 3:32 mark), Craig forced a steal. Even before that, Craig was clearly comfortably out on the floor, focusing his efforts on the defensive end, where he tried to utilize his long wingspan to disrupt Spurs passing lanes.
First quarter minutes for Torrey Craig in his Celtics debut. Craig hasn’t played since December. pic.twitter.com/655X7gC4ak
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) February 13, 2025
However, Joe Mazzulla pulled Craig from the game after a timeout at the 2:47 mark. It was a very brief first stint for the 34-year-old.
That said, in the time he got, Craig looked fine on the defensive end. He didn’t do much on offense, and perhaps the Celtics weren’t totally pleased with his spacing (it’s tough to learn a new system), but he looked okay.
At the very least, Craig proved to the Celtics that he has value as a disruptive defender. And with his experience playing in the NBA, it’s not crazy to think that he can learn the system. He’ll almost certainly get more comfortable playing with this group as time goes on.
Boston’s playoff rotation is a bit unclear at this point. Behind Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Sam Hauser, they don’t have a go-to wing/forward on the roster. That’s presumably why they signed Craig in the first place. Brad Stevens even talked about the Celtics’ desire to sign a wing after the deadline.
Craig’s initial Celtics debut was far from perfect. He only played for a little over a minute. But he showed that he can give them something (at least on the defensive end).
And as Mazzulla looks to establish his playoff rotation, that’s something for him to consider.