In a week full of largely meaningless hoops, Nikola Vucevic has dominated the Boston-Celtics-related headlines. The big man’s return to action, prior to Thursday’s loss, had largely been disappointing.
He combined to score just six points across his pair of appearances against the Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets on 3-15 shooting overall and 0-7 from deep. Simply put, the man needed to see the ball find the bottom of the net, especially considering he wasn't able to get consistent shooting reps in with the broken finger.
Even the first half of Boston’s 112-106 loss wasn’t pretty for the 35-year-old. The team lost its offensive flow when he checked into the game and New York put together a strong charge because of it. He converted on just one of his three field-goal attempts and looked to still be very much in his shooting slump.
Vucevic eventually got what he needed at Madison Square Garden, though.
If the first half was Good Friday, then the second was Easter.
He sank four of his seven attempts from the field and connected twice on four long-range attempts. Not only were Vuc’s buckets efficient, but they were also timely. Eight of his 10 points came in the second half, including his pair of threes that helped Boston shift the momentum in the third quarter, and his timely offensive rebound putback to keep them in the game with less than a minute to go.
The Celtics didn’t win, and Vuc wasn’t perfect. New York still took advantage of his defensive shortcomings and ran pick-and-roll actions in his direction.
When asked about the big man postgame, head coach Joe Mazzulla noted his increased comfort level.
“I feel like he played well,” Mazzulla praised (via CLNS Media). “I think we saw that he looked much more comfortable tonight. He hit a couple of pop-threes. He set great screens. He was able to manipulate some matchups for us vs. their coverages. He got a couple of offensive rebounds. I thought he was physical on both ends of the floor and he continues to get better and better for us.”
Thursday was Vucevic's first good game against a contending team
Not only was this Vucevic’s best run since his recent return, but it’s also best game he’s played against any contending team. Thus far in Boston, his better performances have come against the Miami Heat (11 points and 12 rebounds), Chicago Bulls (19 points and 11 rebounds), and the Brooklyn Nets (28 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists).
Whether or not he’ll actually see a spot in the playoff rotation has yet to be seen, but, for now, the Celtics are wise to continue to try and get him acclimated. Building Vucevic’s comfort was a clear goal for the team on the heels of his mid-season arrival.
The broken ring finger on his shooting hand derailed whatever plan they had, and now he’s having to learn on the fly. It’s safe to assume that he won’t play the second leg of this back-to-back on Friday, so Sunday’s season finale against the Orlando Magic will be his final game rep before the postseason starts.
Though, according to Brad Stevens, the week of practice ahead of Round 1 might be the most important piece of the puzzle.
Having that week in between [the end of the regular season and the playoffs] is going to be really good,” Stevens said Tuesday. “Even though we won't have games to necessarily play through, we only have a couple left. Just those practices are probably more valuable than even these next four games.”