BOSTON — It takes a lot to earn the trust of Joe Mazzulla for a young player. Yet, 19-year-old rookie Hugo Gonzalez has found himself in the Celtics rotation from the start of the year.
While Gonzalez has gotten an opportunity most nights, the extent of those appearances has been limited. He’s averaging just 12.6 minutes per game and has been battling with Baylor Scheierman for opportunities most nights as the ninth or tenth man in the rotation.
On Friday night against the Heat, Joe Mazzulla leaned into a special version of small ball with Hugo Gonzalez playing center for significant stretches against the likes of Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware. The net result was arguably the best game of his career as he posted 10 points and eight rebounds in a career-high 29 minutes, while playing the final 18 minutes of Boston’s 129-116 victory.
“I just thought his energy was great on guarding both Ware and Adebayo,” Mazzulla said of the performance. “I thought there was a couple defensive possessions in the first half where he did a great job on that, and I just thought he was tremendous on both ends of the floor. I think that’s who he has to be for us. He didn’t play perfect, but played with a level of energy, but a level of awareness and execution on the offensive end, playing the five for us at times, and creating advantages for us. But yeah, he had it early, and I thought he continued it throughout the game.”
On a night the Celtics lacked defensive energy and rebounding for large stretches, the lineup featuring Gonzalez, Sam Hauser and Anfernee Simons was a revelation, leading them to remain on the floor for all of crunch time before the game was decided.
“I thought there was connectivity,” Mazzulla said. “I thought our one-shot defense was better. I thought we got some great rebounds on that. We were able to get out and run, but I liked our offensive pace, and again, they’re one of the best defensive teams in the league, and the game can come down to, in a close game, we can play so many different ways.
“I thought tonight it was like, we’re going to win the game with our offense because of how good their defense is, and if we can generate advantages, and if we could put them kind of in match-up situations, I think that’ll kind of put them on their heels a little bit. I thought that unit did a great job of that, and then we were able to also get stops with that unit. So it’s a credit to the guys just understanding that we could play different ways, and whatever gives us a shot that night.”
The fact that Mazzulla is willing to start giving Gonzalez a longer rope is something the numbers indicate is a wise choice at this point. Gonzalez now has the best net rating on the roster among rotation players at +14.8. He’s providing valuable shot making in a secondary scorer and consistent defensive energy. “The team’s defensive rating among rotation players is at its best when he’s on the court.
With Boston’s defense trending downwards as a whole in recent weeks, Mazzulla turned to Gonzalez on Friday night for the biggest stretch of floor time in his career.. For the Celtics to keep pace in the Eastern Conference playoff picture moving forward, Mazzulla should keep giving Gonzalez an extended look.