BOSTON — When the Celtics rotated their bench into the game at home earlier this against the 76ers, Jayson Tatum stayed on the floor joined by Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta. A lineup that could easily stand as Boston’s starters.
While the regular rotation players sat out the preseason opener in Cleveland, third-string center Luka Garza, the depth wings and training camp invite Devin Carter led a win over the Cavs’ starters, minus James Harden, where the Celtics
led throughout. In Philadelphia, a group of G-Leaguers started and Boston’s bench defeated four of the vaunted five Sixers starters this upcoming season.
The Celtics look prepared, again, to win games no matter who’s available.
“I’m really interested to see how the depth not only is utilized as an advantage,” Brad Stevens said to begin training camp. “But there is gonna have to be some sacrificing at that level for guys that have tasted a little bit of success at different times throughout the year. But the one thing that I know about Joe (Mazzulla), and the one thing I know about our players, is they all know their opportunities will be plentiful. If they’re not coming today, they’re coming down the road.”
Mazzulla leaned into that mantra by allowing assistants D.J. MacLeay and Tony Dobbins to handle the Cleveland game, spending the night in the film rooms. When Mike Conley, who started that night, exited for the first time and went to the bathroom, Mazzulla greeted him with three clips in the locker room. Jordan Walsh received another start against Philadelphia, and Sam Cassell took over the sidelines in the preseason finale. Three centers who have all shown capable of starting bought into a by-committee approach at the position.
That bodes well for a Celtics team that features more health concerns to begin the season than last year. Jayson Tatum begins his first full season since his Achilles tear joined by Paul George, who averaged 48.8 games played per year over his last six, and Mitchell Robinson, who only played 20.7 minutes per night across an average 36 appearances in each of the last three seasons. All three players began camp feeling good, while Tatum and Robinson both told 98.5 The Sports Hub that they’re available for back-to-backs, which wasn’t the case in 2026.
“It’s been a struggle, offensively for me, just getting rhythm, getting my legs under me, getting conditioning down,” George said on Monday. “But I think the beauty in it is I’m healthy, that’s stuff that I can iron out as the season goes on, as the practices go on and so I think that’s the positive out of all of it.”
Teammates also see a rejuvenated Tatum, who looked closer to his former self and seasoned by the nearly one year spent watching the game from the sideline. His return to MVP candidacy would massively lift the team’s ceiling, but he’ll need a secondary scorer to emerge, whether Pritchard, Derrick White, George, or a committee of all three. The challenge for an array of young wings who showed growth during the preseason, Hugo González, Baylor Scheierman and Walsh among them, will become shifting between smaller and larger roles on any given night. And eventually translating their impact to the postseason.
There’s little doubt this group can play the numbers game all season and rack up wins through shooting volume, offensive rebounding and an intriguing ability to force turnovers driven by George, Scheierman and others in the preseason. Boston won the shot margin in Cleveland by seven, by 13 and 16 in the two Philadelphia games, and by 17 to beat Charlotte in what started as a dreadful shooting game. Before it began, Mazzulla described weighing the prospect of one great shot versus three quality shots, and sounded like he preferred the latter.
“There are a bunch of different ways to be top-five,” Mazzulla said. “If people could pick their poison, they’d pick to be the best shot selection team in the league, but you have to ask yourself what’s more feasible? … we probably had guys that were better at crashing the glass than we have guys that are better at creating better shots. So that gives us the best chance to do it. This year, it might be different … you also have to ask yourself entering a season how much do you want to make your strengths better or leverage your weaknesses? You probably have to do a little bit of both, but … we were able to be at the top of the list offensively because we hammered down on our strengths, which was our ability to get a decent first shot more times than not, but our ability to create more shots for ourselves. That’s an interesting question. Would you rather have one good shot or three average shots? I know a guy in our organization who wants three average shots.”
If this Celtics team does what last year’s did, in an enhanced way, we’ll be watching both fun night-to-night basketball and they can surpass last season’s total. Then, the playoffs loom, featuring seasoned conference champions like New York or Indiana, or stars who have won championships before like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard. The Sixers will become a point of comparison for years to come, and a scary out if they’re fully loaded in any given playoff round. The Celtics will need to show, before then, an increased proficiency at creating quality shots, or make the roster maneuvers to get there that Stevens has teased since the Jaylen Brown trade.
In a world beyond that deal, the comparisons to Philadelphia, a search for a second star and the likely reality that the Celtics aren’t quite in that championship conversation yet will remain in the backdrop of however fun this regular season proves. Yet, development matters, culture does too, and you’d rather be a group that’s almost expected to win even when three starters sit out than one whose fortunes would become doomed by an injury. Last year’s Celtics achieved remarkable health, Tatum’s absence aside, which is a big point to set aside, and for all the optimism they’ve gained going into this year with him back, it’s worth remembering how much of that built on how well they played without him.
It’s a different league, though, and a conference in particular that’s expected to be far more competitive. Mazzulla himself recalls the 0-3 start to last season, how much they needed to overhaul the defense and his ability to identify where they needed to shift the rotation on the fly cemented his status as Coach of the Year. If veterans move in-and-out of the lineup, especially for extended periods, that could create instability the 2026 team didn’t deal with. But with everyone intact, defenders swarming and balanced lineups knocking opponents down in waves, the Celtics are excited about this season — it is a new year after all for all the similarities.
Mazzulla, true to form, is cautiously optimistic.
“I do love this team,” he said. “I do want to see who we are when it doesn’t go our way. So I want to say ok, I love our team, but what are we gonna be, after a winning streak, after a losing streak, after four games in five nights. All those things. I love this team. I love who we can become, but I’m also excited … to go through all the s*** that the NBA season gives you. I’m excited to lose with this team, I’m excited to win with this team … do all those things to see who we become on the other side of it.”
