BOSTON — With two starters sidelined entering Sunday’s game against the Hawks, Joe Mazzulla had a tough decision to make. Would he bring more firepower in the starting five with Sam Hauser or turn to a wildcard down the bench? With just six total appearances on the season for Boston, Dalano Banton was probably not a popular guess to be inserted into that starting hole for most Celtics fans on Sunday night. The 6-foot-9 guard had not played over nine minutes in a game all year long and most of his action had come in garbage time of wins.
Against a shifty Hawks defense, Banton got the call to play in the backcourt alongside Derrick White and held his own, especially in the second half. The third-year guard finished with eight points and five rebounds in 19 minutes, including a host of buckets that helped the Celtics stretch out their lead at the start of the third quarter. The contributions did not surprise some of his teammates.
“DB’s been in this league for a little while,” Tatum said. “He knows how to play the game at a high level. And he’s part of that stay ready group. They come in every day, they get extra reps, they stay conditioned, they work on their reads so that in times like this when guys are in and out of the lineup we can just plug certain guys in and we can keep it rolling. He did well tonight, competed, made some big plays for us and I was happy to see him get an opportunity tonight.”
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Banton’s size advantage was on display as he held crash the offensive glass well, leading to a monster 58-43 rebounding advantage in the contest against the undersized Hawks. While he remains a no-nthreat from the perimeter, Banton helped limit the Hawks defense to a lackluster shooting night (40.9 percent from the field).
“I thought Dalano’s defensive instincts and his defense was really good,” Joe Mazzulla said after the win. “I thought he made some good plays in the seams. He’s got a really good feel for the game. And I thought (Neemias) Queta just did a good job in his rim protection, and on the offensive end just kind of making the game nasty. So I thought both those guys did a great job and credit to our development staff that keeps them ready, but those guys come in every day. They never know when they’re going to play, and their name was called. So I just wanted to prove to them and show them that their hard work can pay off, and we’re going to need all of them in some capacity at some point.”
With the Celtics expected to be without Kristaps Porzingis for at least another week and Jrue Holiday’s availability for this week still uncertain, Mazzulla is eager to find out exactly what he has down the end of the bench.
“I mean, that’s part of the reason why we started Dalano,” Mazzulla admitted. “We’ve been playing eight for the majority of the season, but you have to find moments to give guys opportunities to see what you can develop and to give guys chances. So that was a perfect opportunity to do it when you have guys out. You don’t want to do it. But when you do, you can develop, and so hopefully they’ll get more opportunity.”
If Mazzulla wants to continue keeping his bench rotation intact when injuries hit, Banton looks like a good candidate to fill the void and provide a more defensive complement to Boston’s starting five.
