The Celtics appeared to be dead in the water on their home floor on Monday night against a 6-22 Pacers team, down by 20 points early in the third quarter, when coach Joe Mazzulla decided he had seen enough. His starting five had allowed three offensive rebounds in a span of 2:23 and so, with the score at 69-49, Mazzulla did something drastic. He benched the entire starting five, including star Jaylen Brown.
And Brown was not happy about it–at least not unto the reserves who replaced that group cut the Pacers lead all the way down to eight points. Mazzulla brought the starters back after that, and the Celtics rode that shift in momentum to a 103-95 win.
But, again … Brown was not happy.
“To be honest, I was, I was (expletive). You know what I mean?” Brown said. “I was ready to play so I didn’t know. It felt like we were mailing it in. It was only three minutes in (to the second half), but we trust our coaching staff, so it was the right decision. That second group is the reason why we won the game. (Luka) Garza, Sam (Hauser), Hugo (Gonzalez). Like, we won tonight, but it was because of those guys. So it was a great call by Joe.”
Celtics Bounced Back After Playing Subs
Indeed, the Celtics second unit was outstanding. Gonzalez had four points and four rebounds in the third period, as did Garza. Anfernee Simons had nine. Gonzalez played all 12 minutes in the third and appears to be earning more and more minutes with this team.
After the game, Mazzulla praised his subs rather than berate his starters.
“We always talk about depth. We have 12, 13 guys that can help us win games in different moments so, I just thought it was a good opportunity to utilize the depth that we have,” he said.
“You saw a game where depth comes in many different ways, and that’s it. At any point in time, anybody on our bench can impact winning and I thought it was a great opportunity to take advantage of the depth that we have.”
Jaylen Brown Having his ‘Favorite’ Season
As for Brown, games like the Celtics’ win over the Pacers are part of the reason he said he is having as much fun this year in the NBA as any other in his career. With fellow star Jayson Tatum out and the Celtics entering the year with low expectations, Brown has thrived, averaging a career-high 29.4 points and 4.9 assists.
But it is watching players like Gonzalez, Garza and Simons thrive that has been rewarding.
“It means everything,” Brown said. “This has been my favorite season so far, being able to get an opportunity to lead a group of guys who—you know, some of us, we have some championship experience, but we have five or six new guys who haven’t really played NBA basketball and now we look like one of the better teams in the league.
“And that’s a credit to our coaching staff and credit to our leadership that we have been able to get those guys comfortable and we’re playing some good basketball right now.”
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