Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla threw rookie Hugo González into a critical overtime moment in Friday night’s 130-126 win over the Brooklyn Nets in double overtime — quite literally.
It was a contrasting moment for González as earlier, in the first quarter, Mazzulla yanked the 19-year-old with visible frustration after a mental mistake led to a Nets bucket. González took it in stride and admitted that Mazzulla’s call was the right call.
“He was right,” González told reporters, per CLNS Media.
“You can be mad if you think that you did the right thing and he subs you out, but he was right. What I did was some bull****.”
For many rookies, getting subbed out and met with disappointment could rattle confidence. González, however, isn’t like most rookies. He took his seat on the bench, patiently waited, and when the final 2.5 seconds of the team’s first of two overtime periods arrived, it became redemption time.
Mazzulla used his left arm to push González onto the court, replacing Boston’s only active center at the time, Amari Williams. Immediately, González was thrust into a crucial spot in crunch time. He caught the inbound pass from Baylor Scheierman and decided to keep things simple.
“Just basically try to make a play, try to catch it, and try to find somebody,” González recalled.
Instead, the play demanded much, much more from González. He cut from the right elbow to the left corner, causing defensive miscommunication as Michael Porter Jr. and Noah Clowney focused on Brown. Scheierman fed him, and with space to fire away, González drilled a clutch game-tying 3-pointer, sending the Celtics and Nets into a second overtime, tied 118-118.
He maintained the very mindset Mazzulla makes an effort to reward. González stayed poised and prepared enough to provide the Celtics with whatever the game called for. It just so happened that this time, it called for González to be the hero.
“You gotta be ready to play in any position, especially when you’re not (a veteran),” González told reporters. “You’re gonna need to be ready to play in any single (spot), and if you need to play center, you’ve got to play center and do whatever the team needs and try to help teammates like (Jaylen Brown), Payton (Pritchard), and Sam (Hauser) to make plays — just try to make them better.”
As much as González wants to make a difference, none of his impact is forced. It goes unnoticed sometimes, but it’s all authentically Hugo. He’ll turn up the jets like his legs are powered with NOS from The Fast and the Furious. He’ll challenge anyone at the rim, dive for any loose ball, and go the extra mile, no matter what that requires. Teammates and coaches noticed the signs during Summer League, and the fact that González can provide that version of himself — whether he’s playing extended minutes or limited minutes — has kept him from any G-League trips down to Maine ever since Opening Night back in October.
None of what González has experienced in Year 1 was planned, including his biggest shot in the NBA.
The reason Mazzulla placed González in that situation was simple: trust. With Brown, Pritchard, Hauser, and Scheierman around him, he trusted that González would come through, even without the instruction of a playbook. It was about trusting one’s instincts and letting everything else play out.
“The play wasn’t necessarily for him,” Mazzulla told reporters, per CLNS Media. “Need threes are a crapshoot. You never know what defense they’re in — are they reading the floor? Are they reading after? Are they matching up? Are they on the body? Off the body? So it was really just a read where those four guys had to make a play, and Hugo made a great play and a great pass.”
That singular play highlighted Mazzulla’s tactical mastery. Sure, circumstances have forced him to lean on inexperienced players like González, but it’s how Mazzulla is doing it that’s made a difference. Everyone involved is benefiting. Playing González in that spot carried risk, especially with the Toronto Raptors inching toward Boston’s No. 2 seed spot, but it worked. It allowed González to boost his confidence, showed teammates they can trust him to take a big shot, and further weaponized a shorthanded Celtics team that has continued to raise its own bar.
The Celtics have reached the point where they can confidently say they know what to expect from González — and that’s huge. His foundation is pure, raw hustle. That’s something coaches can’t teach. Those are intangibles a player either has or doesn’t. From there, everything else can be developed: his 3-point shot, his ball-handling, his strength. González is a developmental piece who, even as-is, can make a difference and impact winning.
For a rookie, that’s rare to come by.
“That was a big-time shot from the rookie,” Brown told reporters, per CLNS Media. “He’s been playing well all season, and to see him make that shot for us to get a big-time win — that was a big moment for us as a team, and a big moment for him too.”
González took only four shots on Friday night, and that included two attempts in overtime: two jumpers, a transition layup leading a fastbreak, and a tip-in off a Scheierman miss. Before his overtime attempts, González hadn’t recorded a single field goal attempt since 2:34 of the third quarter. Still, he stayed ready to deliver whenever the Celtics determined his time to contribute had arrived.
“It’s also easy when you got a coach that’s trusting in you, teammates that are trusting in you, that if you take a shot, you’re gonna make it,” González told reporters. “That helps a lot.”
