What does Luka Garza have to prove before he enters the Celtics' playoff rotation?

The beat rolls on for Luka Garza and the Boston Celtics in the team’s regular-season finale. With Neemias Queta and Nikola Vucevic resting on Sunday, Luka Garza got the start at center and played 38 minutes, putting up 27 points and 12 rebounds, including a game-winning three-pointer to help beat the Magic, 113-108.

Orlando needed this game and was playing their starters, but Garza still dominated Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze all night. This was perhaps Luka’s most impressive performance of the season, but this is what he’s been doing all along. Whenever he gets a shot, he comes through, and at what point can it no longer be ignored?

Garza was blossoming into a solid backup center until the Cs traded for Nikola Vucevic at the trade deadline, who almost immediately usurped his role. Then, Vooch fractured his finger and missed a month of action. Garza stepped right back into the backup center role and played even better than before.

But again, Vooch came in and stepped right back into the backup minutes, turning Garza into a walking DNP-CD. And in the regular season finale, when Garza got one final chance to make his case for rotation minutes in the playoffs, he put together the best audition possible against a team that very well may be the Celtics’ first-round playoff opponent.

Garza a better option than Vucevic at backup center

Vooch has finally had some good moments in recent games, but I’m just not convinced he can hold up in the playoffs. He’s too slow, he doesn’t move enough, and he simply doesn’t bring the necessary urgency to the court in his minutes.

Garza, on the other hand, is a ball of energy, attacking every offensive rebound like his life depends on it. He’s just as good as Vooch on defense and at least provides more energy on that end. On offense, his game may not look as aesthetically pleasing as Vucevic’s, but he’s an amazing finisher around the rim and has quietly developed into a better three-point shooter than Vooch.

Add in his hard screening, aggressive rolling, and overall intensity, and it’s exactly what you want in a backup center. I trust Mazzulla and the coaching staff to have a better handle on the situation than I do, but other than Vooch’s name recognition, All-Star pedigree, and $21.5 million salary, I’m struggling to figure out exactly why he should have the edge over Garza.

Hopefully, the Celtics are coming to the same realization, and they’ve simply been trying to ramp up Vooch after his injury, but simply handing him that job when Garza has earned it all season long doesn’t make a ton of sense.