BOSTON — There are probably few teams in the NBA right now looking forward to the All-Star Break more than the Celtics. After 16 games over the past 28 nights, Boston’s starters looked incredibly flat against the Lakers B squad on Thursday night, falling 114-105 despite LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (hip) ruled out hours before game time with injuries.
The Celtics were double-digit favorites for the matchup but came out of the gate as lethargic as we’ve seen all season. The hosts piled up nine first quarter turnovers, a season-high for the quarter this year. Boston’s starters fell behind by as many as nine points in the opening frame with the sloppy start before Boston’s second unit helped steady the ship. The reserves were playing with a different energy level and focus, something we’ve seen consistently from them of late, erasing the early damage with a 15-3 run to retake the lead briefly in the second quarter.
With Boston playing their third game in four nights against a hot-shooting Lakers team playing with nothing to lose, this would have been a good opportunity for Joe Mazzulla to ride Boston’s reserves early. They weren’t going to be overmatched against the likes of D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves, at least on paper. Sam Reeves and Payton Pritchard were providing a steady offensive spark in their first half stint while Neemias Queta was making his presence felt on the glass and at the rim.
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However, Mazzulla turned back to the lethargic starters at their usual seven-minute mark in the second quarter and Boston proceeded to fall back behind by 14 points at halftime beyond more uninspired play on both ends of the floor. By the time intermission hit, Boston had piled up 12 turnovers, all coming from the starting five while getting crushed on the offensive glass, digging themselves a 14-point deficit despite having (on paper) the four best players in the contest.
With Porzingis not at 100 percent yet amid a return from his ankle injury and several Boston starters getting outworked on the glass at the start of the third quarter, Joe Mazzulla finally elected to mix things up. In an unusual move, he went to his bench just three minutes into the second half, pulling Jaylen Brown, Porzingis and Jrue Holiday ahead of their usual rotations in favor of Pritchard, Hauser and Al Horford. Holiday returned quickly for Derrick white after a short rust but the decision to dump multiple starters early from the team’s regular rotations sent an important message.
“I’ve done that to our whole team at different points throughout the season, so I think that’s part of it,” Mazzulla said of the third quarter benching.
Boston’s bench has been consistent all year long and truly looked like the team’s best players on a night like this. Boston’s reserves responded to Mazzulla’s faith initially with a 12-2 run shortly after re-entering the game, helping the team chip away at a 16-point Lakers lead while Brown, Porzingis and White watched from the bench.
While it was evident the Celtics were playing better basketball without their starters playing together, Mazzulla went back to his struggling benched trio at the start of the fourth quarter. The net result was more of the same from the grouping who simply didn’t have it on this night physically or mentally.
Brown was making poor decisions on both ends of the floor amid a 4-of-12 shooting night. Porzingis was being regularly burned in the pick-and-roll, opening the door for wide-open 3s for the Lakers that they are hitting. White simply didn’t have his shooting touch and was masking uncharacteristic decisions. Collectively, Boston remained flat and didn’t make a serious run at a comeback, cutting the Lakers’ lead to no closer than nine points over the game’s final 11 minutes before Mazzulla waved the white flag with two minutes left in the game.
Ultimately, this was a bit of a missed opportunity from Mazzulla on a flat night from his core. Riding the bench is never an easy choice when you have Boston’s talent level but sometimes it’s the right choice. After the game, Brown and Porzingis were understanding of the benching, explaining they believed they deserved it.
While sitting them more in the fourth quarter may not have ultimately made a difference on this night in the win-loss column with the way the Lakers were shooting from 3-point range, it foreshadows the type of tough decisions that lie ahead for Mazzulla in both the regular season and postseason.
Pulling the plug on a starter during an off night should serve multiple purposes for this team over the course of the year. Sometimes it’s a way to get a player to lock in after he eventually comes back in the game. It also helps to preserve wear and tear on a player amid a brutal physical schedule stretch by not forcing it to him on a night he doesn’t have it. Turning to guys like Pritchard and Hauser for longer stints in these spots also helps this team gather information about the kind of spark they can provide when given extended chances.
Mazzulla has done a much better job reading and adjusting in games this year but he too could have been better on this night, just like his team. A half-measure (third quarter benching) was a start but much more could have been done to prevent a dismal loss for this group, whether it was riding the bench more in the second quarter or turning to them more late in the game. The bench can help the Celtics when games like this if given the chance and Mazzulla did not lean into those energy options enough on a night this team needed it.
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