Teams never want to be without their best player, but also, missing someone important can sometimes be a spark a team needs to make sure they're focused. Without Jaylen Brown, who missed his second game of the season with an illness, the Celtics were in that position as they flew into Toronto for a back-to-back matchup against an always pesky Raptors team.
“I thought the guys had great preparation in walkthrough today and in the film room,” Joe Mazzulla told reporters after beating the Raptors. “Even though we won yesterday, we were able to take away where we had to get better today, and I think that started with the guys’ preparation. And then, it’s having 12, 13 games who can impact the game in any way.”
The Celtics depth makes every game a version of the Price Is Right “Race Game,” where the contestant has to match four price tags to four prizes in 45 seconds. Mazzulla gets 48 minutes, and has to run back and forth to find which players match the weaknesses the opponents are showing.
“Before the season, we said we had the depth, it was just a matter of how they were going to impact. It wasn't a matter of if they could, it was in what way,” Mazzulla recently said. “What we call our depth is our ability to just play differently and impact the game in different ways, whether it's some guys on defense, whether it's some guys rebounding, crashing, some guys on the offensive end. It’s allowed us to take advantage of the entire roster.”
That sounds good, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world for a basketball team. There's a reason
