At NBA Stats, there’s a tab that registers players’ “hustle” numbers. A lot of it is what you’d expect: deflections, recovered loose balls, and drawn charges. The dirty work. The stuff of Tommy Points.
The first column, however, is not necessarily about “hustle.” It’s screen assists. Screen assists are a complimentary stat for sure, but they’re not necessarily born out of working hard or “hustle.” Frankly, they’re closer to passing assists in the sense that you’re setting up one of your teammates
for a shot.
That’s Luka Garza music.
Since being reinserted into the rotation on December 20th, Garza leads the league in screen assists with 28 in 132 minutes. That’s more than Jusuf Nurkic, Oso Ighodaro, and Maxime Renaud in less playing time.
That’s not to say that Garza wouldn’t make Tommy Heinsohn blush. By the time Garza comes in with the second unit and spelling starter Neemias Queta, he’s seemingly already worked up a lather on the bench. You’ll never see Garza with a dry head of hair.
“The way I was raised, my parents, that was just kind of like the ideals that have been put into me playing sports in general. We have a big sports family,” Garza said of his ability to play harder than everybody else. “I think I identified early on that I wasn’t the most athletic guy. I had to find a way to get an edge. Every time I step on a basketball court, that’s my mindset, to just play harder than the guy in front of me.”
At one point in the NBC Sports Boston’s broadcast, Brian Scalabrine compared Garza to an offensive line’s left guard in football, protecting his quarterback, or in this case his shooter, Sam Hauser, from blitzing defenders. And for what it’s worth, Garza’s return to the rotation has sparked a rejuvenation of Hauser who has hit 24 of his last 48 triples.
Garza has seemed to unlock Anfernee Simons as well. Together, they’ve combined for a +6.0 net rating, and Simons is averaging 13.5 points during his most consistent stretch as the Celtics’ second unit scorer.
So much of screening is reading and reacting to the defense just as a point guard would negotiating a pick-and-roll. Check out CelticsBlog’s Nik Land’s Xs and Os breakdown above. It’s not the ball handlers calling out the action — it’s Garza pointing out the coverage and making the adjustment. The flip of his hips and the bone-crushing power of his picks may not scream sexy basketball, but those underappreciated contributions are the product of a player that understands his blue collar craft.
To measure Garza’s hustle, it might be more accurate to consider his offensive rebounding. In that same stretch, he’s grabbed 23, including nine on the road in Toronto that seemingly cemented his place in Joe Mazzulla’s second unit. But these are all just glimpses of Garza’s work. As NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg points out, his overall impact has been a large net positive for the Cs:
“The Celtics are outscoring opponents by a team-best 29.2 points per 100 possessions during Garza’s 132 minutes of floor time in his last six games. What’s more, Boston is being outscored by 5.1 points per 100 possessions in his 156 minutes on the bench, giving him a ridiculous net rating differential of plus-34.3 in that span.”
“Boston is putting up wild offensive numbers with Garza on the floor over the last six games with a 127.7 offensive rating. That number drops to 113.1 without him. Boston’s defensive rating is a stingy 98.5 with Garza on the floor and spikes to 118.2 without him.”
It’s not hyperbole to suggest that Garza is the perfect marriage of Luke Kornet and Al Horford. He’s a threat from behind the arc at 47.1% like Big Al and paired with his Kornetesque screen game, he’s quickly become a mainstay in Mazzulla’s game plan and after signing a two-year, $5.2 million contract this summer, could be a fixture in the frontcourt for a championship run.
