Boston Celtics center Luka Garza scored just three points in his first game against his former team when the Cs visited the Minnesota Timberwolves back in November.
At that point of the season, Garza hadn’t yet gotten the opportunity to earn a regular spot in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. That chance didn’t come until a late-December meeting with the Toronto Raptors, when the former collegiate player of the year posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Since then he’s earned pretty regular minutes for the Cs. The only lapse came during Nikola Vucevic’s first few weeks with the team, but Garza has filled in nicely in the two weeks after Vuc broke his right ring finger. He’s averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game during that span.
Heading into the rematch against Minny, Garza was riding the high of his career night against the Memphis Grizzlies where poured in 22 points to help the Cs across the finish line.
When he took the floor for warmups on Sunday evening, the big man embraced with Timberwolves coaches, staff, and players. It’s clear that there was plenty of love for Luka in Minneapolis.
“It's awesome,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said of Garza’s success in Boston. “Credit to the organization here — Coach Mazzulla and his staff, figuring out how to best employ Luka. He is a good player.”
Garza's work ethic impressed Chris Finch
Though Garza didn’t see many minutes during his time in Minnesota, his day-to-day work ethic impressed Finch more than anything. The Timberwolves’ man in charge added that Garza’s lack of opportunity came from the team’s overflow at the center spot with Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid, and at one point Karl-Anthony Towns all in front of him in the rotation.
“We knew that from our time with him here, we just didn't have quite the pathway to play him with all the bigs that we had. But he certainly helped us over the years. Was an unbelievable professional and great person. I’m happy for his success.”
Finch emphasized the work Garza put into transforming his body during his three years in Minnesota and highlighted his commitment to the weight room.
The 27-year-old appeared in 92 regular-season games for Minny, averaging 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per outing. Garza’s already played two-thirds as many games with the Cs with Sunday’s outing marking his 63rd appearance.
He’s carved out a real role thanks to his consistent effort on the offensive glass, as well as the strong screens he sets to get his teammates open. Not to mention that Garza is a reliable perimeter threat at 43.3% from deep this season.
The work Garza has put in to become Garzilla for the Celtics has proven Brad Stevens right for trusting his character when he signed him last summer.