Celtics Embrace Small Ball Identity - and It’s Starting to Pay Off
BOSTON - The Celtics didn’t flinch when things started to look familiar - and not in a good way - during Friday night’s matchup with the Miami Heat. Midway through the second quarter, Boston trailed by eight and was once again getting beat up on the offensive glass, 11-4 at halftime.
Just four days earlier, that same vulnerability helped the lowly Pistons steal a win at TD Garden. But instead of backing off the small-ball experiment, Joe Mazzulla doubled down.
And it worked.
Boston stormed out of the locker room and ran Miami off the floor in the second half, outscoring them 71-58 on the way to a 129-116 win. The Celtics leaned into their speed, space, and versatility - and the Heat simply couldn’t keep up.
“It’s easy to say what didn’t go well,” Mazzulla said postgame. “But our offense?
They couldn’t switch us, couldn’t steer us, couldn’t keep us out of the paint. We created a ton of two-on-ones with our speed.
That was the story of the second half.”
The Celtics found their groove with a lineup that would’ve raised eyebrows not long ago: Anfernee Simons, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta, and rookie Hugo González - who slid over to center down the stretch. Boston was already up 13 when that group took the floor, but they stretched the lead to 19 and never looked back. That unit posted a staggering +64.7 net rating per 100 possessions and rebounded nearly 78% of Miami’s misses during that stretch.
González was everywhere. In a career-high 29 minutes, he grabbed eight rebounds, scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, and helped Boston outscore Miami by 22 while he was on the floor.
His fourth-quarter steal on Simone Fontecchio - right after Bam Adebayo had cut the lead to two - sparked a momentum-shifting three from Hauser. Minutes later, González buried a corner triple of his own to push the lead to 16.
It was the kind of performance that turns heads - not just because of the numbers, but because of the energy. Earlier in the game, he floated in a put-back from several steps away and laid out for a loose ball that just slipped through his fingers. It’s the kind of highlight reel effort that’s quickly making his rookie season one of the more entertaining storylines on this Celtics roster.
“He played 17 straight minutes or something like that,” Mazzulla said. “Not everybody can do that.
And to play at that level, with that consistency? That’s rare.”
González’s emergence at the five started earlier this week in the loss to Detroit, where he and Josh Minott shared the middle of the zone. That look returned Friday, with Mazzulla also mixing in Jordan Walsh during a second-half stretch that showcased Boston’s young defensive disruptors.
Walsh made his mark early, holding Adebayo and Jaime Jaquez Jr. to 1-for-6 shooting in the first half and blocking two shots without fouling. Then González took over - two steals, four fouls, and a whole lot of impact.
Together, they’ve become a tag team of sorts, trading off high-energy shifts that keep the Celtics’ defense active and unpredictable.
What’s more impressive is how quickly they’ve adapted to playing a position that wasn’t necessarily in their job description. Boston’s biggest question mark coming into the season was its depth at center. But between Queta’s steady minutes and the emergence of these small-ball looks, that hole suddenly doesn’t feel so glaring.
Minott remains the primary backup five, but Walsh and González have earned real chances to set screens, guard opposing bigs, and stretch the floor when left open. At practice earlier this week, González spoke with a noticeable gash across his neck - a battle scar from mixing it up with Boston’s frontcourt in drills.
“We gotta be ready to play any position,” González said. “We’ve got a lot of different lineups.
We’re lucky to have guys who can play multiple spots. It’s not just about what position you’re playing - it’s about who’s guarding you.
You’ve gotta know everything. If you’ve got a big closing out on you, that’s where you try to attack, create an advantage, and then space the floor.”
Since moving away from Luka Garza as the primary backup center back on November 29, the Celtics have gone 6-3. In that stretch, they’ve climbed to within one point per 100 possessions of Denver for the NBA’s top-ranked offense.
They’re shooting an eye-popping 59.4% effective field goal percentage - second-best in the league - and still rank fifth in offensive rebounding rate. The numbers back it up: 129.6 points per 100 possessions with no traditional center on the floor, a +6.6 net rating, and a scorching 43% from three.
Of course, it’s not all sunshine. Opponents are scoring 123 points per 100 possessions in those same small-ball minutes - a number worth keeping an eye on.
And while the Celtics have climbed slightly from dead last to 27th in defensive rebounding, that’s still a concern. But their defensive rating, which has dipped to 18th, hasn’t hurt them much on the scoreboard.
Thanks to their slow pace, they’re still second in the league in points allowed per game (111.0), trailing only the Thunder.
Mazzulla sees the trade-off clearly. Playing small exposes some weaknesses, yes - but it also forces his team to be more aware, more connected, and more intentional.
Miami crushed Boston on the glass, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds to Boston’s six. But the Heat shot just 39% from the field and from deep, despite taking 20 more shots than the Celtics.
On Monday, Boston did the little things right but couldn’t hit shots. On Friday, the threes finally fell - 21-of-43 from deep, good for nearly 49%.
And that offensive explosion was fueled by the very things that define this new-look Celtics team: speed, spacing, and versatility.
“There’s been good and bad to the lineup,” Mazzulla said earlier this week. “We’ve forced more turnovers.
We’re playing faster. Our layup attempts are up.
The offense is better. The defense has to be better, but the zone helped throw their rhythm off.
It’s about finding ways to be impactful - and that might look different every night depending on who we’re playing.”
Right now, Boston’s figuring it out on the fly - and racking up wins in the process. The small-ball identity might not be perfect, but it’s giving the Celtics something they’ve been searching for: a dynamic, adaptable edge that’s tough to game-plan against. And with young players like González, Walsh, and Minott stepping into bigger roles, the upside is only getting more intriguing.