Celtics games are like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates right now. Good luck figuring out what you’re going to get at the end of a game.
This time around, it was Xavier Tillman on the floor to end the game against Philadelphia. The same Tillman who was a DNP-CD against Detroit a couple of games ago, and who only played three minutes against the Cavs.
“He's been great,” Joe Mazzulla said after beating Philadelphia for the Celtics’ third-straight win. “He's just a guy that you trust. So I trust that whether you put him in in the first half or in the fourth quarter with two seconds left, he's gonna deliver.”
He delivered two big baskets in the middle of the quarter, and then again later with an effective switch and challenge on a hard-charging Tyrese Maxey. The Celtics went with Tillman down the stretch to better handle Joel Embiid, who was facing up and moving better than he had in their first matchup.
Embiid didn’t make a basket in the fourth quarter.
“X was great,” Jaylen Brown told reporters. “X made huge shots, stops, rebounds, offensive rebounds, everything. X played phenomenal down the stretch. That was excellent for him to be in the rotation, play, and just be ready to go. That was excellent.”
Hugo Gonzalez also played a big role in beating the Sixers. He didn’t get that chance in the season opener, one of two DNP-CDs on his resume heading into this matchup. But there he was, forcing turnovers, grabbing offensive rebounds, diving on the floor for a loose ball, and nearly killing himself trying to chase a Sixer down in transition.
Throw Josh Minott into the mix, too. He started his third-straight game, but he also has a DNP-CD against the Knicks.
“You just got to be ready to be called upon at any moment and deliver,” Mazzulla said. “That just creates that expectation and that mindset. So we're able to be, flexible in that and kind of take advantage of the different types of guys that we have.”
In a game Boston led by 24 and still won by one, no Celtics starter was a positive +/-. Everyone on the bench was a positive except for Tillman, who was a -1. Overall, the starters were a combined -7.4, making the bench +8.4 over about 20 minutes.
It was a nice departure from the first five games where the starters were a strong positive (+7.1) and the bench was just holding the fort (-0.1).
Mazzulla is trying to find the right buttons to press, and the right combination to unlock a win seems to be different every night.
“I think it's more fun,” Brown said. “It's more fun as a team atmosphere, because any given night, you could be a contributor to win it.”
That's easy for him to say because his next DNP-CD, if he ever gets one again, won’t come until he’s the “veteran presence” for a young team at the end of his career. But Brown’s early career had some similarities to what some of these guys are facing.
“I know it gets hard. I've been in those positions where you just want your name to get called, and it just doesn't,” he said. “It just piles up game after game after game. It mentally could be tough, but each and every night, depending on the matchup, playing 10 to 12 guys, you got every opportunity on the floor. So I think it's more fun that way for everybody.”
It helps that the guys doing the waiting are grateful for the opportunity. After beating Cleveland, Minott professed his love for everyone in the organization and the city, calling it a blessing to be with the Celtics. Gonzalez is a 19-year-old getting an immediate chance with a legacy franchise with worldwide appeal. He appreciates the opportunity he’s getting.
“I’m enjoying my role,” Gonzalez said. “I’m pretty happy with anything (the coaches) got for me because they're looking for team success and also looking for my own development. So anything they got for me, I’ll take it.”
Six games into a season after a three-game winning streak is a great time for everyone to be happy and on the same page. The true test of whether these mix-and-match situations truly work in the longevity of it. Guys like a routine, but this is anything but.
Mazzulla understands the routine, but he also understands that it’s becoming more of a luxury afforded to only a few players on the roster.
“You have to be able to give the game what it needs, and give the game different looks, and give teams different looks, and give your own team different looks,” he said at a recent practice. “You have to be able to think on the fly … There's rituals and whatnot, but by the time the game starts, you have to be able to think in real time … That's something that we've really tried to work on and it's a credit to the guys. I think they’ve embraced that.”
Mazzulla is taking mixing and matching to a different level this season, but mostly because he has to. The blessing and curse of the NBA is the relentlessness of the season. The opportunities to rest might be few and far between once the meat grinder starts cranking, but each rapid-fire game is a new chance for a new person.
So get yourself ready, Chris Boucher. He has two-straight DNP-CDs. On this team, that could mean he’s due to be the hero at some point soon.
