BOSTON — New faces in new places have defined this Boston Celtics season. Josh Minott’s starting lineup success. Hugo Gonzalez’s unexpected, immediate impact. Chris Boucher’s defensive intensity and leadership on the bench. Even the increased playmaking role of Payton Pritchard. But among the bunch, Luka Garza has quietly strung together a few high-impact games.
Outside of the whomping that was the Houston Rockets game, Garza’s minutes off the bench have been a big positive for the Celtics. And while his energy on the defensive glass and rapid-fire screening have been impressive, Garza’s best attribute has been the same as it was in college at Iowa: Scoring.
“I've felt really good in my rhythm, especially, not really last game, but before that, and kind of finding that and where I can help and impact this team the most,” Garza said at shootaround on Monday morning. “And so, yeah, definitely feeling great out there.”
Luka Garza's scoring has quietly helped the Celtics
Through his first six games with the Celtics, Garza has averaged 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds while shooting 52.0% from the floor and 36.4% from deep.
Garza enjoyed a legendary career with the Hawkeyes. He led the Big 10 in scoring for two straight years, and in his senior season, Garza scored more points than anyone else at the DI level.
In Boston, Garza’s scoring punch has primarily come from two areas: Behind the arc and in the lane. He’s flourished in pick-and-pop situations, and his floater in the short roll has been fairly consistent, too. After a cold start to the season, he’s gone 4-of-8 from deep in his last four games.
And the Celtics are focused on helping Garza be his best self, especially when it comes to working off the bench. At shootaround on Monday, Garza wrapped up his workout session with assistant coach DJ MacLeay by sitting off to the side for a moment before sprinting out onto the court and shooting a three.
They want him to be ready to come in on cold legs and make an impact right away.
“Working with DJ, that's one of the drills he likes to do, especially at the end of workouts is to kind of simulate that,” Garza said. “Coming off the bench, and being open on the first shot, and knocking it down. So, yeah, it was just kind of a simulation of that.”
That’s what the Celtics hope Garza can be.
Of course, he needs to fit into their system on both ends of the court. Running around on defense. Setting screens on offense. Sprinting around like a madman in order to be in the right places at the right times.
But his offensive punch, that floor-spacing in the pick-and-roll and short-roll scoring threat in the lane, is where he could have a chance to thrive.
“I think it's important because that's what I want to be,” Garza said. “I want to be able to come off that bench and be kind of just jumping right onto a 100-mile-per-hour treadmill and be able to withstand it and keep going and make an impact right away.
“And I think that's what Joe expects from everyone coming off the bench. I know I can be that and then live up to it. So, it's good to kind of rep that and simulate that as much as you can in your workouts.”