Nikola Vucevic’s biggest adjustment since joining the Boston Celtics has undoubtedly been shifting to a lower usage role. After years of averaging 14 or more attempts per game, Vuc has sacrificed over five attempts per outing in Boston.
It’s not necessarily something he’s opposed to, it’s just different.
“I’m adjusting to the fact that I might not get as many shots as I'm used to,” Vucevic explained after the Apr. 10 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. “When I get them, you know, [I need to] make the best out of them. You can't just work your way into a game the way I was used to before. So just an adjustment. It's not easy after so many years, but I know it's a role that’s going to help the team and something that I was willing to accept, and I think it's been going good so far, and I’m going to continue to work on it.”
There’s something to be said about being an offensive focal point for your entire professional career (and probably far beyond it), and then all of a sudden having to fit into an already successful squad in the middle of the season.
Vucevic still has work to do in that regard, as the Celtics begin their climb towards Banner 19, but Sunday’s Game 1 win over the Philadelphia 76ers was a step in the right direction.
Specifically, the 35-year-old put his fingerprints on the third-quarter stretch that effectively squashed any hope of a Philly comeback.
He did so in a low-usage role.
“We're not asking him to score, we're asking him to play basketball,” Joe Mazzulla pointed out postgame.
Vucevic ripped down three rebounds and sank a triple in transition to push Boston’s lead to 22 points midway through the third quarter. His statistical output was fine, but it’s the things that don’t show up in the box score that are the real difference makers.
This third quarter stint has been Nikola Vucevic's best of the afternoon
— Sam LaFrance (@SamLaFranceNBA) April 19, 2026
He just drilled a three to foce Philly into a timeout
“I thought Vuc was great tonight, and he did the things that we expected of him,” Mazzulla praised. “He took some open shots. He protected the rim, and kept [Andre] Drummond and [Adem] Bona off the glass in spots where the other guys were responsible for getting rebounds. You don't get credit when you keep your guy from getting it and someone else comes in and gets the rebound. So at the end of day, we‘ve got to do what it takes to win. You know, using everybody that we can. He did a great job on that tonight.”
Taking open shots sounds simple, and, in part, it is. If the look is there, fire it up. But, at the same time, there are still reads to be made in those spots. Vucevic, who has grown used to having gameplans built to get him shots, is learning to remain aggressive in smaller spots.
“You find your rhythm as the game goes on,” he said of that learning curve last week. “Sometimes I’d get going early when I was, you know, kind of the focal point. Sometimes, again, you know, you're gonna get some shots eventually to work. Here, you know, now coming off the bench [my process has] to kind of be quicker, get quicker into the game. Then just, there'll be times where there might be a few possessions I don't get the ball, or just, you know, have to play off other people more than I've had in the past.”
One play showcased how Vucevic can help the Celtics in small doses
The highlight of Sunday’s win for Vuc had to have been the hockey assist (doesn’t show up in the box score, again) that he created off of a quick short-roll decision. After catching the ball in traffic, the big man did a 180 and found an open Jaylen Brown in the corner, who then swung the ball to Derrick White for an open three.
The above sequence came at a stage of the game when the Sixers were trying to make a push. Boston’s lead was down to 15 when it all went down, and Vuc played a key role in getting them a clean look to calm things down.
His ability to make connecting plays like that was one of the big selling points when the Celtics traded for him.
Going forward, Vucevic’s ability to knock down open threes off the catch is going to be as important as ever. Catch-and-shoot threes are one of the best ways for a lower-usage player to make an impact as a scorer.
Think of it like an offensive lineman in football. Opposing teams can’t send extra pressure at star players by helping off of Vuc if he’s a lethal threat from long range. If he’s not a threat, then he might as well be missing his blocks.
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