Celtics rally from 22 down in Vucevic’s debut to beat Heat: 6 takeaways

Boston Celtics

Nikola Vucevic is going to help.

Nikola Vucevic’s debut transformed from a dour affair into one of the most electric atmospheres of the season as the Celtics rallied to beat the Heat 98-96 on Friday. 

Here are the takeaways. 

Nikola Vucevic is going to help

Vucevic came off the bench behind a double-big lineup (a lineup that Joe Mazzulla hinted might have been a bad idea) to record an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double in his first Celtics game.

The Celtics were likely to try to acquire another big man in some capacity before the deadline, and that big man needed to be both useful and notably cheaper than Anfernee Simons as the Celtics tried to duck under the tax. Vucevic fit the bill financially, and his performance Friday offered a lot of hints about his usefulness.

First of all, Vucevic is a post presence that the Celtics simply haven’t had, at least at the center position, and the Celtics offer spacing that Vucevic could only dream of in Chicago. Vucevic is aggressive at sealing mismatches when he can force a guard into a switch in the pick-and-roll, and all three of his second-half baskets came around the rim. The last basket was, perhaps, particularly encouraging — he sealed Jaime Jacquez Jr. perfectly, and Derrick White threw a pin-point pass for the bucket. Vucevic and White showed the beginnings of some pick-and-roll chemistry.

“We get a feel for it pretty quick, figure it out — roll, pops, all different situations,” Vucevic said afterward.

Vucevic is also a high-level passer — instinctive and quick-thinking, with impressive vision. He was unselfish to a fault at times on Friday (understandable for a player trying to make a good impression on a new team), but his first assist was a great read finding Baylor Scheierman floating to the 3-point line for a 3-pointer, and his fourth and final assist found Derrick White flashing to the corner for what turned out to be the game-winning triple with 1:30 left. 

The Celtics still have a lot of untapped possibilities with Vucevic — he is a good 3-point shooter, so expect plenty of pick-and-pop action in addition to his pick-and-roll sealing. When he pops, he can either shoot or make high-low passes. On Friday, he showed what he can do in the short roll as a passer too.

“I can already see certain things that we run and certain things we do where I’ll be able to still find my actions and still be aggressive and do different things,” Vucevic said.

“I thought tonight obviously they switched a lot. I was able to get a couple of seals. Some of them I was able to score. Some of them were able to kick out when they collapsed, and things like that. I think games will be different based on what teams do against us.”

The Celtics started pretty badly

We probably don’t need to address much about the first half other than to note that the Celtics did not look like a team with a win in their shoes for the first two quarters. 

The Celtics opened the game a staggering 1-for-20 from the floor from 3-point range. They could not find the range, and Miami took a 21-point lead into the break. 

In the NBA, a big first-half lead usually faces a run of some kind in the second half, and whether the team with the big lead wins usually hinges on how quickly they can staunch the bleeding. Jaylen Brown came out of the break with a head of steam, but the Heat answered his mini-run by pushing it back to 19. 

Then the Celtics hit a flurry of 3-pointers, TD Garden woke all the way up, and the Heat couldn’t get their wound patched until the Celtics had taken a two-point lead near the end of the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Derrick White. 

“We’re a team,” Brown said. “We’ve been building chemistry. Everybody has leaned in from the beginning of the year, and when you’re on the same page, you trust and believe in each other, and you empower each other, that’s half the battle. 

“We get along. We like playing with each other. We play the game the right way, so that can carry you on the days that you might not be playing so well, or things might not be going your way. You’re always in the game, you’re always in the fight, when you play like a team, and we’ve been playing like a team all season.”

A nice Payton Pritchard moment

Pritchard is a monster off the bench, and he sparked the Celtics’ third-quarter rally with one of his patented runs in which he becomes essentially unguardable for several minutes. 

His second field goal of the game came with 5:29 remaining in the third — a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 15. 

Over the next 11 minutes of game time, Pritchard scored 16 more points. He hit step-back 3-pointers. He found his way to the rim (as only he is capable of doing). He capped it all off by pivoting his way around and through Davion Mitchell for a layup. 

But one sequence stood out in particular. It wasn’t his and-one layup over Heat sequoia tree Kel’el Ware late in the third, although Pritchard bellowing at the crowd after the bucket showed that Friday’s game meant something to him. 

Rather, it was a sequence that occurred midway through the fourth when he and Heat star Norman Powell started going back and forth. Pritchard was already borderline unstoppable at this point, and Powell had briefly gotten into things with Hugo González as the two battled for a jumpball. After that, Powell hit a 3-pointer on one possession and drove right by González on another, creating a 3-pointer for Andrew Wiggins. The Celtics were struggling mightily to slow Powell, and the Heat could do nothing about Pritchard. For a few possessions, their showdown was a 1-on-1 battle. 

Pritchard won it. He drilled a 3-pointer right in the Heat guard’s face on a step-back jumper. Powell got the ball on the other end, and he found himself matched up with Pritchard in return, as the TD Garden crowd rose in anticipation of the 1-on-1.

Pritchard held his ground as the crowd roared. When Bam Adebayo came out to try to screen him off, Pritchard tipped the ball away from Powell, who was forced to retrieve it in the backcourt and get it to Adebayo, who missed the mid-range jumper. 

The TD Garden crowd — which drew praise from Mazzulla and multiple players postgame — appreciated the mini-moment immensely.

“[Pritchard] looks great,” Brown said. “He’s a big reason why we came back in tonight’s game. So being able to have him, get him going, etc. is a key part of our offense.”

Joe Mazzulla did too much

Mazzulla reprimanded himself in his post-game comments, saying he tried to prepare too much for all the changes to the roster.

“I kind of put the guys in a tough spot to start the game, just processing all the what-if scenarios, and thought we were just kind of bogged down by those things, and it kind of impacted it,” Mazzulla said. “Once we just kind of simplified it, and once the game went on and we were able to see those reads, I thought the guys did a much better job.”

One such example: The double-big lineup that started the game, with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza. That duo worked well against Houston in Wednesday’s blowout, but the Celtics couldn’t recapture the magic, and Mazzulla said he was to blame for his over-preparation as Vucevic arrived.

“I think you can overthink,” Mazzulla said, but he added, “I don’t really believe in simplifying it. We’ve got to find a way to make the complex simple.”

Derrick White bounced back impressively

Perhaps more than anyone else, White was well on his way to a forgettable performance after the first half on Friday: 2-for-11 and 0-for-6 from three. Once again, he was good at everything else — he already had three blocks as the teams went to break — but the Celtics were 1-for-20 from deep, and he was one of the main culprits. 

In the second half, White didn’t let his defensive intensity slip, but his offense came around entirely. He scored 17 points on 4-for-9, making 4-for-6 from 3-point range and picking up another block and a steal for good measure. His corner 3-pointer late in the third tied the game for the first time, capping the Celtics’ run to get back into the game. His 3-pointer from the other corner late in the fourth eventually led to the Celtics’ win. His block with 33 seconds remaining prevented Davion Mitchell from equalizing. 

White doesn’t always have a big game, but he is unquestionably a big-moment player. 

“D-White has a great understanding of playing alongside great guys,” Mazzulla said. “He knows when to let JB do his thing. He knows when to let Payton do his thing, and he knows when to insert himself. It’s a balance, but I thought he did a great job of that tonight.”

What’s next (and the Celtics are back in second)

Notably, the Pistons stomped all over the Knicks, snapping New York’s streak of eight wins in a row, which gave the Celtics sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference. 

Sunday’s 12:30 p.m. game now carries a lot of weight: If the Knicks win, they would take a 2-1 lead in the season series and would draw even again in the standings. If the Celtics win, they (obviously) take a 2-1 lead in the season series … and they would pull two games ahead as the All-Star break looms.

The Celtics have two days off for the first time in quite a while after their showdown with the Knicks. They will close their pre-All-Star schedule by hosting the Bulls on Wednesday.