BOSTON – Jaylen Brown did not initially appreciate Joe Mazzulla’s decision to bench the usual Boston Celtics starters early in the third quarter Monday night. But after seeing the tactic ignite a 103-95 comeback victory, Brown acknowledged his coach made the right call.
“To be honest, I was pissed,” Brown said. “You know what I mean? 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 third quarter), but we trust our coaching staff. So, it was the right decision.”
Looking for a change of energy, Mazzulla pulled four of his second-half starters after the Celtics fell behind 69-49 with 9:22 left in the third quarter. Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta were removed from the lineup, leaving only rookie Hugo González on the floor. Anfernee Simons, Baylor Scheierman, Sam Hauser and Luka Garza subbed in for the usual starters.
“That second group is the reason why we won the game,” Brown said. “Garza, Sam, Hugo. We won tonight, but it was because of those guys. So, it was a great call by Joe.”
The tactic worked quickly. About two minutes after Mazzulla’s lineup shift, Scheierman knocked down a transition 3-pointer to pull the Celtics within 71-59. Three minutes after that, González smiled and bellowed after drawing an offensive foul on Andrew Nembhard about 92 feet from the Pacers basket. The TD Garden crowd roared when Nembhard picked up a technical foul while complaining about the call.
“I think it was funny,” González said. “I think people liked it. And then, after that, it was a great time to engage the Garden, also. And they helped us a lot.”
When Brown and White returned to the game with 1:15 left in the third quarter, the Celtics trailed 80-70. Brown scored his team’s next 10 points, cutting the Boston deficit to two on a driving layup with 8:58 left in the fourth quarter. After a White 3-pointer brought the Celtics within 84-83, Brown blocked a shot to help produce a Pacers shot-clock violation. Brown then scored at the rim again to give the Celtics their first lead since early in the first quarter.
“I wouldn’t say it’s ideal (to get benched),” Brown said. “I just wanted to win. I didn’t want to lose tonight. So, when I came back in, I was like just shot out of a cannon. Our guys, like I said before, they deserve all the credit tonight. Hugo, Luka Garza, Sam Hauser, Anfernee, that group helped catapult us to get this win tonight. So, I saw them, and I kind of fed off their energy too, and carried it over.”
The Celtics thoroughly controlled the rest of the game, outscoring the Pacers 54-26 after Mazzulla’s lineup change. He has had a quick trigger with some of his young wings this season, but doesn’t typically use the same approach with his veterans. It was unusual for him to pull several of them so early in a half.
“I think it was more about, ‘This is what the game needs at this particular time,’” Mazzulla said. “Let’s have an understanding that these guys are going to help us keep it – let’s get it back a little bit, keep it close, and then, it’s their responsibility when they come back to win it.
“So, I thought today was an example of, like, a team. You’re not always going to be at your best. Guys come in, they keep it close, they chip away at it, you come back, you guys do your job, and everybody’s responsible for winning. So, I think it’s more of just kind of the guys, it’s a credit to them of having an understanding that anybody can impact winning at any time.”
The Celtics bench did that Monday. With Jordan Walsh still dealing with an illness that knocked him out of the second half of Saturday night’s win against the Toronto Raptors, the Celtics started Josh Minott for the 10th time this season. However, he played only nine minutes and didn’t get off the bench in the second half. González, who has earned a bigger role in recent games with his versatile defense and relentless hustle, started the third quarter in Minott’s place.
González went on to play nearly all of the second half en route to a career-high 37 minutes. He finished with six points, a career-high 11 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. More so than his individual stats, it was telling that the Celtics outscored the Pacers by 21 points with him on the court.
“Just try to make it happen,” González said. “We, everyone on the court, wanted to win. We needed some energy. We needed to believe in a comeback. I think that sometimes, whoever was on the court, I’m sure they were going to help with that, and that’s what we needed.”
Garza had four straight DNP-CDs before the Celtics dusted him off during Saturday night’s win against the Toronto Raptors. After he grabbed nine offensive rebounds in that game, putting him one shy of the highest total notched in the NBA this season, he followed up the performance with another five offensive rebounds against Indiana.
“Just kind of going out there and playing as hard as we can trying to turn the game around,” Garza said. “I feel like we kind of jolted the game (with) our energy and effort, and everybody came in and took care of the rest.”
Brown scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 31 points, giving him at least 30 for the seventh straight game, extending the longest such streak of his career. Late in the fourth quarter, he heard M-V-P chants from the Boston crowd. He said the way this season has gone so far “means everything” to him.
“I think this has been my favorite season so far, being able to get an opportunity to lead a group,” Brown said. “A group of guys who … Some of us 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 just credit to our coaching staff and credit to our leadership that we’ve been able to get those guys comfortable. And we’re playing some good basketball right now, so it means everything.”
The Celtics fell behind early as Indiana went on a shooting tear. The Pacers opened the game by sinking eight of their first nine 3-point attempts while going 12 of 20 from beyond the arc in the first half. Pascal Siakam scored 23 first-half points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. He knocked down his first four 3-point attempts before missing for the first time from long range in the final minute of the first half.
Mazzulla recognized his team needed a change.
“At any point in time, everybody on our bench can impact winning,” Mazzulla said. “And so, it’s just a great opportunity to take advantage of the depth that we have, and I thought those guys did a great job just kind of changing the pace of the game.”