The Celtics entered Monday’s meeting against arguably the most physically imposing front court in the league with one rotation center — Neemias Queta. With Luka Garza and Xavier Tillman out of the rotation for now, Josh Minott has started to handle the backup big minutes. Even Jordan Walsh and Hugo González have found recently themselves handling center responsibilities. If that’s where the Celtics would stand in mid-December, not many would have predicted they’d begin Friday tied in the loss column
for third in the Eastern Conference.
“I thought we answered the call,” Joe Mazzulla said after the loss. “They’re one of the bigger, more physical teams in the league. I think we’re right there.”
While effectively conceding the offensive rebounding battle to Detroit, the Celtics lost due to turnovers, free throw misses and a second consecutive poor shooting night. Since Boston removed Garza from the rotation in Minnesota and began playing small, they rank second in offense and 21st in defense — still good for the fourth-best net rating. Queta’s steadiness as their lone traditional big hasallowed for that flexibility, but they also beat Cleveland over that stretch with Xavier Tillman Sr. starting in his place. They’ve still won 5-of-8, during which they ranked fourth in shooting and offensive rebounding rate.
Still, with their defensive rebounding stuck in last place, overall defense regressing and shooting slumping over the past week, it’s a fair question to ask how sustainable small ball will prove to be.
“There has been good and bad to the lineup,” Mazzulla said on Wednesday. “We’ve had moments of forcing more turnovers, we’ve had moments of being able to play with a higher pace, our layup attempt percentage has gone up. Our offense is obviously a little bit better. Our defense has to be better and that zone threw their rhythm off like that. So, it’s just a matter of finding different ways to be impactful and it could change every night depending on who we’re playing against.”
The numbers indicate that the Celtics made the right decision going away from Garza in favor of small ball. Boston lost Garza’s center minutes by 9.3 points per 100 possessions to begin the season, compared to a +14.6 net rating with Queta on the floor. Small ball rested in the middle at +5.3 with no centers on the floor, mostly with Minott there and a look with Walsh largely handling screening and defending big bodies. Those groups succeeded in forcing several opponents to play smaller, too.
After Wednesday’s practice, González finisged with a scratch across the right side of his neck. He wouldn’t name who delivered it, but mentioned defending bigger bodies in the post. The Celtics trusted him defending Karl-Anthony Towns earlier this month and put him on the floor as their biggest body for stretches against the Pistons. Boston doesn’t necessarily view Minott, Walsh and González as centers, but rather deploys them based on how they’ll manipulate a defense. The role still forced González to become a screen-and-roller at the point of attack on Monday, a new look for him that he finished comfortably. Later, foul trouble took him out of the game.
“It doesn’t really matter how we look at (Minott). It matters how our opponents look at him,” Mazzulla said. “How he’s being guarded, what the matchup is, what the coverage is and how they plays into our play-calling and our spacing and our defensive coverages that we’re in. So it’s really not about what we think, and that’s what he’s learning. It’s about what others think and being able to recognize that in real time. It’s also something Jordan has gotten really good at, having an understanding of who he’s being guarded by, what the coverage is, what the matchup is and how to impact the spacing on that.”
Minott expressed confidence in playing some center when asked prior to the season. According to Basketball Reference, he logged 14% of his minutes with Minnesota there in 2023-24. This year, he’s up to a 45% split at center. Walsh logged 3% of his playing time at the five to begin the year and González still hasn’t officially registered as one, but when Boston shifted to a zone during Monday’s game, he stood in the middle while Minott defended to his left. The Celtics won Queta’s 34 minutes by five points in that loss, positioning them as a -12 with him off the floor. They lost the offensive rebounding battle, 12-7, four days after the Bucks scored 50 points in the paint against them.
As Queta’s pick-and-roll and screening game improves, along with his ability to play more minutes, the Celtics can probably survive playing small in rotation. There’s a chance one of Garza, Tillman or Boucher could emerge if given the opportunity. Jayson Tatum’s return would improve their rebounding, defensive versatility and ability to thrive in those small ball looks. On the trade market, there aren’t necessarily centers available who would crack Boston’s rotation each night — especially given the Celtics’ asset and financial limitations. Brad Stevens didn’t rule out improving the roster on Wednesday, and wouldn’t place a ceiling on this roster, but acknowledged limited activity league-wide.
So with the Heat arriving in Boston on Friday after Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware combined for 29 rebounds in Brooklyn last night, expect to see more of Walsh screening-and-rolling, González defending Adebayo and fortunately for the Celtics, the offensive success that’s vaulted them into one of the best units short of Denver.
“We gotta be ready to play any position,” González said at practice on Wednesday. “We got a lot of different lineups, we’re lucky that we got a lot of players that can play multiple positions and as Joe, I think, said the other day, it’s more what position you’re gonna play, who’s guarding you. You gotta know everything. You gotta know if you’re being defended by a guard, the one that we want to attack against the five, the big man and we’re just making reads off that. Just try to play and try to get advantages off my ability against the big men, whenever I got them on a closeout or whatever, just try to attack them, try to create an advantage, and then just space the floor in the corner.”
