The Celtics starters were good on Wednesday night in the team’s win over the Hornets, but certainly not amazing. They struggled to shoot and got outrebounded for a change. But the team still won by 21 points going away, in large part because of the complete and utter dominance from the bench.
Boston got nine guys off the bench, and every single one had a plus/minus of at least +4. That includes the end-of-bench players and rookies like Chris Cenac Jr., Dillon Mitchell, Ron Harper Jr., and Luka Garza, who were mostly in for mop-up duty.
Opponents' reserves have no shot against Boston
But the Celtics are taking those minutes to another level. This was a fairly close game after three quarters, as the Hornets were doing an impressive job of hanging around. But with the starters done for the night, the Boston bench pulled away with a 29-16 fourth quarter, completely blitzing Charlotte’s reserves on both ends of the floor.
Sam Hauser was a +23, leading the way, with Payton Pritchard (+19) and Neemias Queta (+16) not far behind. And the truth is, those players are worthy starters on just about any team in the league. Pritchard may be the Celtics' second-best player this season, and certainly is on offense.
He was a starter last season until the team dealt Anfernee Simons away, and he won Sixth Man of the Year the season before. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, he’s producing like a star and is going to absolutely destroy backups.
Celtics practically have a starting lineup on the bench
Hauser and Queta were both regular starters for a 56-win team last season, and if Mazzulla keeps them on the bench, they’ll be huge advantage-creators as well. Neemy was a borderline elite defensive big man last season with some serious screening and rim-running chops; he would immediately become one of the best backup centers in the game.
Hauser is a marksman who can share the floor with just about anyone and is always in the right place at the right time. Defenders can’t lose sight of him, or he will absolutely burn you. Add in the two-way brilliance of Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez, and Boston legitimately has a second five that can go toe-to-toe with most teams’ starting lineups.
The fact that Garza, RHJ, Mike Conley, Devin Carter, and the rookies aren’t even in the team’s top 10 is just absurd and proves what an embarrassment of riches Mazzulla has to work with.
We’ll see if he continues with these lineups and rotations once the regular season starts, but whether he does or not, it’s clear that the Celtics are going to win a lot of games this year simply by dominating the war of attrition and experiencing almost zero letdown, regardless of which players are riding the pine.
Add us as a preferred source on Google