Trying to make sense of Joe Mazzulla’s preseason with the Boston Celtics is a different kind of puzzle. The usual clues aren’t all that useful, because he’s not interested in broadcasting much of anything. The lineups he wants to evaluate are often hidden in the middle of games, if they show up at all, and that keeps opponents from getting even a small preview.
That’s why preseason can feel less like a dress rehearsal and more like a scavenger hunt. Last year’s opening-night five of Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Sam Hauser, and Neemias Queta never logged a preseason possession together. Mazzulla gets what he needs in camp scrimmages, then uses exhibition games to test ideas and let players get their legs under them.
Even with all that opacity, there are still a few things worth tracking. Boston is likely to sit its regulars tonight, which makes this as good a moment as any to look for the patterns anyway.
One of the clearest ones involves Jayson Tatum. He’s logged 40 total offensive possessions this preseason, and 17 of them have come in first quarters.
In both games he’s played, he’s handled the entire opening period. That stands out.
The question is whether that’s just about conditioning or something more deliberate. My read: Tatum is taking over the full first-quarter job that had belonged to Jaylen Brown, and that shifts the responsibility for connecting the end of the first quarter to the start of the second onto someone else. Payton Pritchard looks like the likeliest candidate, especially since Mazzulla wants him on the floor at the end of quarters.
The shape of it seems pretty clear right now. Tatum plays 12 minutes, sits to open the second quarter, then returns for the last six minutes of the half. The same pattern would repeat after halftime, getting him to 36 minutes per game, which is right around his career average.
That setup gives Boston a little of everything. Tatum can establish the tone to begin each half, and he’ll also get run alongside plenty of different combinations. That means overlap with Pritchard, Neemias Queta, and anyone else coming off the bench.
There’s also been a lot to like about the way Boston has opened games defensively. The Celtics have been swarming, jumping passing lanes, and forcing turnovers. They’ve collected 16 steals in each of the last two games, though both came against opponents missing their best players.
So the obvious follow-up is whether that pressure will translate once the games matter more. The Sixers’ back end and the Hornets’ reserve groups didn’t handle Boston’s aggressiveness well at all.
That part is real. But it also may have looked even better because of who was on the other side.
What I think: the Celtics’ pressure is good, but the schedule has helped it look even better. I’d want to see how Cade Cunningham and the Pistons deal with it, and I’d also want to know whether Boston leans on that look as heavily against stronger teams. It feels like something they can unleash on second units or whenever a primary ball-handler is off the floor.
That’s the thing about defense in the regular season: no team stays in one coverage forever. What Boston has shown in long preseason stretches is almost certainly going to be trimmed down once the games count. But the Celtics now know it’s there, and they know they can turn it loose when it suits them.
Even then, there’s an argument for playing it safer. Boston’s rebounding is so strong that gambling isn’t always necessary. Sometimes the better choice is simply to challenge the shot and finish the possession with the board.
Jordan Walsh has been in the starting lineup the last two games, but he’s also played fewer minutes than any other starter in those contests. Mazzulla likes what he’s getting from him early in games.
“Jordan continues to be really good at the start of games, guarding the team's best player, getting off to a good start defensively,” Mazzulla said. “Something he's done well for us those last couple of games, and it's a huge role for him that we're going to need from him.”
That doesn’t lock anything in, though. The starting group still looks like it could shift around. Walsh, Tatum, Derrick White, Paul George, and Mitchell Robinson would be a nasty defensive unit, and it wouldn’t be shocking if Mazzulla wanted to throw that group out there at different points.
Walsh will also have to make open shots to stay there. Baylor Scheierman looks like the more complete option on paper, but there’s a reasonable case for Walsh if the opening-day assignment is Cade Cunningham. That would be the more disruptive choice, rather than asking Scheierman or White to handle him.
So the lineup picture remains fluid. The best guess is that whatever Mazzulla settles on, it’ll be something we haven’t seen before.
In Other News...
Payton Pritchard May Be Headed For A Very Different Celtics Role
Payton Pritchard is already drawing a different kind of attention around the league, and it points toward a much larger role in Bostons next chapter. NBA.com recently surveyed general managers, and the Celtics guard was among the players identified as a breakout candidate for 2026-27. With Jaylen Brown no longer in the mix, the path opens for Pritchard to do more than just provide steady bench production, especially if Boston wants more scoring and creation from the backcourt.
The early signs of that transition have been encouraging. Pritchard has shown he can handle more than spot-up duty, and his preseason work against the Charlotte Hornets offered a look at a playmaking load the Celtics may need to lean on more often. Sharing the floor with Jayson Tatum, he gave Boston a glimpse of a facilitator who can help organize the offense, which makes the coming season feel like a possible bridge to something even bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Hugo Gonzalez May Be Forcing His Way Into A Bigger Celtics Role
Hugo Gonzalez has given the Celtics something they could not count on when he arrived: real confidence from the outside. Through three preseason games, the young wing has been knocking down threes at a clip that stands out even in a small sample, and it matters because shooting has long been the part of his game that lagged behind the rest. For a player trying to carve out a place in Boston, that kind of early progress can change how a coach thinks about his minutes and his fit.
The broader context is just as important. With the roster having changed around him, there is room for someone like Gonzalez to play his way into a larger role if he can offer more than energy and athleticism. The Celtics do not need him to become a finished product overnight, but if this preseason version is closer to the real thing, he suddenly becomes much harder to leave on the fringe of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics May Have Found A Rotation Wrinkle Teams Wont Love
A preseason look against the Hornets offered a small but interesting glimpse into how Joe Mazzulla might keep opponents guessing this fall. Boston has built its identity around spacing, movement and perimeter skill, so any move toward a bigger look stands out, especially when it comes with two traditional centers on the floor at the same time. The Celtics are still sorting through lineup combinations as they head toward the regular season, and this was one of the more notable wrinkles to surface.
Neemias Queta and Mitchell Robinson shared the court in a way Boston does not usually deploy its front line, but the pairing gave the Celtics a different kind of presence inside. The team used the look in a stretch that worked well enough to keep in the back pocket, and that is the real intrigue here: not whether it becomes a staple, but whether it gives Mazzulla another situational answer when matchups call for something less conventional. [Read more 🡒]