The Celtics’ rotation has been a muddy picture all season long, and the unpredictability and lack of patterns became a calling card of Joe Mazzulla. The ‘next man up’ mentality came to define the team, and the ‘stay ready’ mindset has become a Boston staple. Going back to October, the Celtics have had more than 20 players come in and make an impact at one time or another.
That sounds like a recipe for a disastrous season, but it has been anything but. Instead, almost every button the coaches and front office have pushed has worked, and they’ve got the luxury of heading into the playoffs with a deep roster full of players who have proven themselves and earned trust.
Still, with the playoffs starting, there was a general assumption that the rotation would get trimmed down and we’d see more conventional lineups. We saw something similar down the stretch of the regular season when Joe was leaning on eight or nine guys most nights.
But in Game One against the Sixers, for the most part, we saw what we’ve been seeing all season long. Perhaps it was due to foul trouble, or perhaps it was just part of the master plan, but by the start of the second quarter on Sunday, the Celtics had already gone 10-deep
Celtics play 10 players for more than 14 minutes
As the game went on, it was clear that the Cs were taking Philly to the cleaners, and this game wasn’t very competitive after the first few minutes. Maybe that changed the strategy a bit and allowed Joe to stick to his regular rotations, but then again, maybe not. With Mazzulla, we really don’t know.
I think it’s safe to say in a closer, more competitive game, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White will all play a lot more than their low-30s they hit on Sunday, with lots of rest in the fourth quarter. Neemias Queta will certainly play more than the 15 minutes he was held to due to foul trouble as well. 28 minutes for Sam Hauser and 34 for Payton Pritchard feels about right.
Mazzulla refuses to blame foul trouble for rotations
Beyond that, it’s hard to take much away from Game One. Nikola Vucevic played 17 minutes off the bench, but he had his own foul trouble, and Luka Garza played 14 minutes as well. Jordan Walsh was the first wing off the bench and played 14 minutes, but Baylor Scheierman was part of the rotation as well and played 15.
Joe was asked about it after the game and constantly stated the importance of depth and for guys to stay ready to make an impact, insisting that this is the norm. “At the end of the day, I don’t really look at it as foul trouble; I look at it as we’re going to play our rotation and play our guys. It’s what we’ve done all year, and it’s what we’re going to continue to do.”
Whether that remains true as we advance through the playoffs remains to be seen, but through one game, it’s great to see that the core principles that have defined the Celtics all season seem to be carrying over to the playoffs as well.
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