BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla has been experimenting with ways to make all his new roster pieces fit together in the first two weeks of the regular season. The offseason roster losses combined with Jayson Tatum’s injury have not made that a simple task, especially with the team’s starting lineup.
The opening night starting five lasted just two games with Sam Hauser getting sent to the bench after a pair of losses to the 76ers and Knicks. Hugo Gonzalez got a chance on Sunday and then it was Josh Minott’s turn for the last two games. If Boston’s performance is any indication, we may not see a switch again anytime soon while this group is healthy.
Boston’s top talent is clearly a fan of what Minott is bringing to the table and the chemistry he’s building with the top group.
“Josh has been great,” Jaylen Brown said. “We just got to keep building on it. I’ll be talking to him, just keep building on it, keep being consistent, keep rebounding. All of that stuff is great. That’s going to make huge contributions to our team, so I’m going to just stay in his ear. Tonight was an excellent game for him. That’s exactly what we need.”
The emergence of Minott has allowed for other parts of the rotation to settle into more defined roles. Sam Hauser is providing valuable spacing to the second unit. Luka Garza has emerged as the top backup center. Anfernee Simons has remained steady as a sixth man.
There is still some mixing and matching at the end of the rotation (Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez) and that’s likely to continue based on matchups. However, the idea of chaos is tough to execute when a group doesn’t have chemistry together yet. Suddenly, it appears Joe Mazzulla is finding some of that up and down the roster with the high level of effort being a constant for everyone on the floor.
“I think the guys have made a commitment to that,” Mazzulla said. “So when you have a group of guys and then the training camp that we had, there’s an identity that we have to play to. There’s a full understanding of what that identity is, and it’s a credit to the guys. It’s a commitment that it takes every single night on both ends that this is the way we have to play. We have to leverage our strengths, and we’re starting to really see what those strengths are, and it’s a credit to them buying in and doing it. So five games in, we’ve got 77 left, we’ve got to do it every night.”
There is a long road ahead without Tatum in the fold but a disastrous start is suddenly in the rear view mirror after beating a top-tier East contender. The Celtics are trying to find the best version of this group and Wednesday’s win was a big step forward on that front.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our [User Agreement](https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/user-agreement.html) and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our [Privacy Policy.](https://www.advancelocal.com/advancelocalUserAgreement/privacy-policy.html)