**BOSTON —** The Celtics searched again for lineups on Sunday from the moment the game tipped-off. With **Sam Hauser** scratched due to back spasms, **Luka Garza** returned to the starting lineup next to **Neemias Queta** — the same look that **Joe Mazzulla** blamed in part for Friday’s near debacle against the Heat. Boston came back and won on that night, showing inspiring flexibility and fortitude. On Sunday afternoon, their hole grew deeper until they suffered a rare blowout defeat.
Only their Nov. 1 loss to the Rockets, playing their fifth game in seven nights proved worse than the Celtics’ 22-point defeat to New York.
And as the offensive woes worsened and depth questions grew as the game progressed, the Celtics increasingly appeared unsure of themselves. Mazzulla himself acknowledged the team being stuck in-between experimentation and their more familiar looks that have driven their best runs against Miami and New York. Last week’s short-handed wins in Dallas and Houston leaned into the previous roster’s strengths.
“We’ve tinkered with (the starting lineup) all year,” Mazzulla said afer the Knicks loss. “We’ve tinkered with it all year. I think we’re up to 15 or 17 different ones, so nothing’s changed. Everybody on our roster has a chance to impact winning, we have a chance to develop, do different things there. So whether before or after deadline, nothing changes in our approach. How do we have flexibility? How do we know everyone on the roster has a chance to impact winning? We just keep developing identities.”
There’s more than enough room over the final 29 games, including the trade deadline layoff that begins on Thursday, for the Celtics to figure out their new rotations. What became clear over the weekend was how much changed in swapping **Anfernee Simons** or **Nikola Vučević**, not only to integrate Vučević, who likes to post-up and brings some defensive vulnerabilities, but elsewhere too. **Payton Pritchard** and **Derrick White** now stagger minutes, and that made **Baylor Scheierman** a starter, Garza a four and pulled **Ron Harper Jr.** from Maine into the Boston rotation.
Some positives already came from that. Pritchard shot 31-for-64 (48.4%) over his first four games back with the second unit, including 12-for-30 (40%) from three. That’s including his 2-for-9 showing against the Knicks where the Celtics lost his minutes by 27 points. In turn, Scheierman scored 10 points with 13 rebounds and five assists as the lone bright spot in the blowout, giving the starting unit an important extra layer of play-making and a grab-and-go threat. As much as Garza and Queta struggled in their minutes over the past two games, they dominated in Houston and finished +14.0 per 100 in their minutes over the past four games. The nine most-used lineups including Scheierman over that stretch won their minutes and Harper Jr. flashed with 11 points and nine rebounds while slowing **Kevin Durant** on Wednesday. The Celtics seem to love him and what he can provide.
Yet it all feels like a reset of sorts for a team that won 10-of-13 before Sunday’s defeat.
“We’re playing a little different,” White said. “We got some new guys in new spots and so I wouldn’t say we’re as crisp as we were maybe a few weeks ago when we’ve had all offseason and the beginning of the year to figure those parts out, but it’s exciting we can continue to learn and grow. Just understand it’s going to take day-by-day to get guys comfortable, get guys in the right spots. We got a lot of guys that know how to play and so I think we’ll pick it up quickly.”
Mazzulla acknowledged giving the Celtics too much to think about going into Friday’s game against the Heat as he plans for every scenario down the stretch of the season. That now appears more likely to include **Jayson Tatum** after Shams Charania reported that the Celtics star began controlled 5-on-5 scrimmaging on Sunday, and Tatum’s return would inevitably make much of the roster shake-up more understandable. Tatum could slide into the starting lineup for Hauser or Scheierman, with the other joining Pritchard and Vučević for a new-look bench attack. The strength in having both Tatum and **Jaylen Brown** available lies in the ability to have one on the court at all times and allow for more freedom for White and Pritchard, who have struggled to shoot this year.
Much of **Brad Stevens’** post-deadline commentary keyed in on the sustainability of what the previous team did. Yet for an offense that approach Denver’s for No. 1 in efficiency, a front court that punched above its weight and a back court that balanced White, Pritchard and Simons’ strengths well, this month’s moves caused at least a momentary step back from the surge that powered the Celtics’ rise to near the top of the East standings in the first half. Even a development like **Josh Minott’s** from earlier this season that helped balance the front court faded, then disappeared with his dump to Brooklyn at the deadline. That team resembled an Eastern Conference contender, albeit one with limitations like **Hugo González** and **Jordan Walsh** needing to play center sometimes.
Yet those moments provided the balance of winning and development that this new group will try to re-establish. Walsh did not play on Friday, then returned on Sunday and flashed his reverse scoop layup while attacking a close-out. González shot 1-for-5 in the loss. So did Harper, who lost his minutes by 17 points. The Celtics finished the last two games 69-for-176 (39.2% FG) and 17-for-77 (22.1%) from three. Their turnover rate ranked only ninth over that stretch and even the team’s offensive rebounding rate fell. And, for now, they can no longer court the Pritchard, White, Brown, Hauser and Queta lineup that built a +17.2 net rating in 27 games before the deadline.
“I think there’s a balance of breaking it down, going through these scenarios, different matchups,” White said. “Obviously, you get guarded many different ways and adding Vooch, you got a whole different way people are guarding him. You want to break down those scenarios, but you also want to be free, not think out there, just react. You gotta find that balance of watching the film, coming in working on different scenarios. Then, you also gotta let people figure it out on their own. It’s tough on the fly, we’re 2-3 games in, it’s too early to be worried about.”