The Celtics didn’t need their stars to look sharp Thursday night. Even without Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson, Sam Hauser and Ron Harper Jr., and with Joe Mazzulla sitting in the locker room, Boston rolled to a 124-113 preseason win over the Cavaliers.
Cleveland came in as a team fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals appearance and was close to full strength, but that didn’t matter much once the Celtics started playing. Boston came out flying, beat the Cavs with its depth, buried them from 3-point range, and controlled the glass.
Among the standout performances, Devin Carter may have made the loudest case of all. The 13th overall pick out of Providence by the Kings in 2024, Carter was traded in the offseason and later waived by the Hawks before landing with Boston on an Exhibit 10 deal.
About one half of preseason basketball in, that move is already looking like a perfect fit. Carter played like a relentless force, getting downhill over and over, finishing through contact, drawing fouls, and refusing to take a possession off. He was just as active defensively, battled on the boards, and kept attacking.
He finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 24 minutes off the bench, and Boston was +22 with him on the floor, the best mark on the team.
The talent has never been the issue with Carter, the son of NBA journeyman Anthony Carter. He won Big East Player of the Year as a junior and became a lottery pick two years ago. The shot remains the question, and that part isn’t going away, but he went 5/9 from the field, 1/3 from deep, and made all 6 of his free throws against Cleveland.
It’s still a tiny sample, and Carter has plenty left to prove before he can talk about a real rotation role. He hasn’t even made the team yet. But he looked like he belonged, and he played with the kind of edge that tends to earn minutes in Boston.
This already looked like a smart, low-risk swing when the deal was announced. After Thursday, it looks even better. Carter seems well on his way to claiming the final two-way spot at minimum, and there’s a path to that deal being converted to a standard contract once it can be prorated to keep the team under the luxury tax line.
The Celtics are always hunting for dogs, and players with Carter’s blend of pedigree, force, ballhandling, rim pressure, and defense don’t exactly grow on trees. Snagging one off the scrap heap is starting to look like a real win for Brad Stevens and Boston.
In Other News...
Neemias Queta Is Chasing A Celtics Role Change Fans Will Notice
Neemias Queta has spent the offseason and training camp trying to expand the part of his game that could change how the Celtics use him. Already a useful interior big with rebounding, screening and finishing strength around the basket, Queta has focused on improving his 3-point shot so he can offer Boston a little more floor spacing when hes on the floor.
It would be a notable shift for a player who has rarely taken threes in the NBA or college and has only made one at the pro level. But for the Celtics, the appeal is obvious if Queta can make that shot a real part of his package, because even a modest threat from deep would make it harder for opponents to ignore him and easier for Boston to keep its offense moving. [Read more 🡒]
First Look At A Very Different Celtics Team Tonight
The Celtics open preseason play tonight against the Cavaliers, and the first look comes with an unusual setup on the bench. Assistant coaches Tony Dobbins and DJ MacLeay will handle the game in halves while Joe Mazzulla takes a back seat, a reminder that this stage is less about the final score and more about sorting through a roster that looks meaningfully different from last springs version.
Bostons group has undergone some real turnover, with Jaylen Brown out of the picture and Paul George, Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley now part of the mix. Cleveland is also using October to sift through tweaks of its own after a quiet offseason, and both sides are treating this as an early evaluation night, even if the Celtics have not yet fully revealed who will actually be available to suit up. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Mazzulla Is Letting Celtics Assistants Face A Real Test
The Celtics first preseason game against the Cavaliers will come with a different look on the sideline, as Joe Mazzulla is stepping back and handing the coaching duties to two assistants. Tony Dobbins and DJ MacLeay will share the workload in Cleveland, giving Boston a chance to see how the staff functions when the head coach is not directing things in the usual way.
Mazzulla said the move is meant to give the assistants a real developmental opportunity, which matters for a bench that has already been asked to grow alongside a championship-caliber roster. It also adds a little extra meaning to the preseason opener, since both Dobbins and MacLeay have been on the radar for bigger roles and now get a live-game setting to show how they handle them. [Read more 🡒]