Boston Celtics
Vucevic came off the bench again, tallying 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
Celtics center Nikola Vucevic looks to pass while pressured by Chicago Bulls center Nick Richards during the first half. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Nikola Vucevic and the Celtics destroyed Vucevic’s old team in Boston’s final game before the All-Star break, claiming a 124-105 win over the Bulls.
Here are the takeaways.
Nikola Vucevic settled in nicely
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Sometimes, a player arriving in a new situation needs a little while to adjust.
The trade that brought Vucevic to Boston may have been financially motivated, but Vucevic is good at a lot of things on the court. His third game in Boston — which came on the heels of two off days, a practice, and film sessions in which the center “worked his ass off” according to Joe Mazzulla — showcased his better qualities well.
Vucevic came off the bench again, tallying 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Against an admittedly porous Chicago defense, Vucevic was visibly more comfortable than he looked in his debuts against the Heat and Knicks. He hit four 3-pointers, pick-and-popping the Bulls to death with miles of space created by the gravity of the Celtics’ stars around him. He flipped in a little floater hanging around in the paint and providing an outlet around the rim. He scored on the pick-and-roll. He dropped in a baby hook out of the post. He fired a pinpoint pass to a cutting Jordan Walsh for a dunk, and he dished a nice high-low look to Jaylen Brown posting up against a smaller defender.
Vucevic’s offense is, of course, the biggest selling point — he provides the Celtics a dynamic presence from all three levels in ways that they simply didn’t have before.
“His pick-and-roll positioning defensively was good, really good, just the reads,” Mazzulla said. “And then offensively, the reads were good — the spacing, understanding where he is, the early offense reads, offensive execution, he just felt much more comfortable out there.”
Walsh was similarly impressed.
“I love him,” Walsh enthused. “It’s great. Every time he catches the ball, I’m just cutting, and he’s looking every time. So it’s great. It’s a way to kind of get involved in the offense without having the ball in your hands.
“It’s super good to have a guy to have to facilitate that and also stretch the floor and do so many things.”
The big rotation will be worth watching. Luka Garza was relegated to garbage-time minutes — a tough but perhaps unavoidable hit for a player who has worked hard but is clearly third in the pecking order. Will Vucevic keep coming off the bench? Neemias Queta has been excellent in the starting lineup all season, and he provides a defensive presence that Vucevic can’t match, but the Celtics’ offense had real zip to it with Vucevic on the floor.
“The only thing we know is that we don’t know anything,” Mazzulla said. “Anything can happen, and so we just have to be ready to adjust — either to our opponents or to what gives us the best chance to win.”
The Bulls were checked out
We would be remiss if we didn’t note that the Bulls were in no way ready to play a basketball game before they headed out for their All-Star break, which makes sense — who among us brings their best to the table on the day before some long-awaited PTO?
The problem for the Bulls was that the Celtics looked like a team still stung by their unbelievably poor shooting performance in a meaningful game against the Knicks on Sunday, and they had no intention of going into the break on a similarly sour note against the Bulls. Chicago started hot, but they started letting go of the rope near the end of the first quarter, and the Celtics blew the game open in the second, out-scoring the Bulls 36-17. The game was somewhat unserious the rest of the way.
Payton Pritchard is the perfect player for throwaway games
Pritchard is, of course, also a very good player for real games, but on nights like Wednesday when the Celtics just need to stay on the rails to cruise to a win, Pritchard is the ideal conductor.
Pritchard almost never turns the ball over (his turnover percentage is in the 100th percentile league-wide). He creates easy offense for himself (26 points on 11-for-18 shooting on Wednesday).
Perhaps most importantly, he just genuinely seems to love hooping — he plays well with starters, but he also looks just as locked in facing overmatched second-unit players down the stretch when the lead is 20 or more.
Jordan Walsh had a great game
Walsh hasn’t had as big a role over the last few weeks as he did earlier in the season, but he may have earned his way back into Mazzulla’s good graces for the time being with Wednesday’s performance. He was a menace defensively — three steals and two blocks — and he scored 16 points to go with six rebounds, four of which were offensive. Most of his offense came on put-back baskets and cuts.
“Everyone’s got different roles and responsibilities, and his is when you come in, you’ve got to help us go on a run,” Mazzulla said. “You’ve got to do something, whether it’s an offensive rebound, steal, deflection, block.
“So he takes his role serious, and I thought he was tremendous tonight on both ends of the floor.”
Walsh started 20 games and has looked like a breakout two-way player at times this season with his athleticism, length, and aggressive defense.
“I had said a while ago that I’m trying to find my pockets to be more aggressive,” he said. “I felt like today, obviously I took those opportunities, but also, I felt like people were looking for me to make those plays.”
Anfernee Simons is open to a return
One thing that was abundantly clear at the final buzzer was how happy the Celtics were to see Anfernee Simons.
Simons arrived in Boston with the knowledge that the Celtics were shopping him for financial purposes, and that pall never lifted.
Still, Simons ingratiated himself to both teammates and coaches by fully accepting his role and buying into what the Celtics wanted him to do, and his explosive scoring ability and smooth, aesthetically pleasing style of play ingratiated him to fans.
At shootaround prior to the game, Simons praised Vucevic, noting that he knew he was traded for a “great player” who fit a position of need for the Celtics.
Near the end of his session, a reporter asked Simons if he could envision a return to Boston.
“For sure,” Simons replied. “Obviously, got to finish our season here first and then see what happens there, but for sure, down the line. Like I said, I enjoyed my time here, built great relationships here, but I see it for sure. I see it.”
That’s an easy question to brush off for a player if he wants to do so — Simons could have simply said he loved his time in Boston, but he was focused on finishing out the season in Chicago and would deal with his free agency when it arrives.
Instead, he sent a very clear message to the Celtics: If you want to talk, you have my number.
The appreciation is certainly mutual.
“He didn’t have to come in and accept what we needed from him, and be open-minded and grow, and we wouldn’t be in the position that we’re in right now if he didn’t help us win games,” Mazzulla said.
The Celtics enter the All-Star break in style
The halfway point of the NBA season was nearly a month ago, and the Celtics are still a bit mysterious — nobody is quite sure how good they will be against the best of the best, and nobody is sure how they will look when Jayson Tatum returns.
But the iteration of the Celtics that made it to the All-Star break with a one-game lead over the Knicks deserves every ounce of credit for what they’ve accomplished so far. Some fans wanted them to tank. Others thought they might hit .500 in Tatum’s absence.
Instead, the leaders of this group dug deep into their winning DNA, they absolutely hammered the margins at the behest of a coach who is genuinely obsessed with them, and they spent the first 52 games of the season developing their young talent into role players who look like they might be genuinely helpful in the playoffs. Brad Stevens tore down the roster and got them not only out of the second apron, but under the tax. Their draft picks are intact going forward.
The Eastern Conference is wide open. The Celtics are very good, and they have the potential for greatness percolating beneath the surface as Tatum’s return looms.
On a gloomy night in New York City 275 days ago when Tatum went down clutching his ankle, the above would have sounded like optimism bordering on delusion.
What’s next
The Celtics will head west when they return from the break, taking on the Warriors next Thursday before a showdown with the Lakers the following Sunday.
Tatum has expressed a desire to return to the court at TD Garden. The Celtics’ next game at home is Feb. 27 against the Nets.
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