There was no shortage of drama in Boston’s comeback win over the Miami Heat - a game that delivered playoff energy in early February. The Celtics erased a 22-point deficit in a gritty, emotional battle that had everything: ice-cold shooting stretches, physical play, a little blood, some choice words exchanged, and a fascinating generational duel between 32-year-old Norman Powell and 20-year-old rookie Hugo Gonzalez.
But beyond the box score and the comeback itself, one of the most intriguing developments came from a new face: Nikola Vučević. The veteran center, newly acquired at the deadline, brought a wrinkle to Boston’s offense that we haven’t seen all season - and it might just be the missing piece that adds a new layer to this team’s identity.
Let’s start with the context. This year’s Celtics have been allergic to post-ups.
They rank dead last in the league in post-up frequency, averaging just 1.5 attempts per game - a minuscule 1.4% of their offense. That’s a sharp drop from last season, when they leaned more heavily on post touches from Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porzingis, and Al Horford, ranking third in the league with 6.5 post-ups per game (6%).
So far this season, Jaylen Brown has been the lone consistent post-up threat, accounting for 62 of the team’s 78 total post-up points. That’s not a typo - 62 of 78.
Enter Vučević, one of the league’s most active post players. His post-up frequency clocks in at 19.84%, putting him in the 98th percentile leaguewide, per Basketball Index.
That’s elite volume. The efficiency hasn’t quite matched - he’s scoring just 0.87 points per possession on 45.8% shooting - but what we saw against Miami suggests that his value in the post goes beyond scoring.
In his 27-minute Celtics debut, Vučević gave Boston a glimpse of what this offense could look like with a true back-to-the-basket option. On rewatch, he opened himself up for a post entry pass on 30 possessions - and actually got into a post-up on 12 of them. That’s a major shift for a team that’s barely looked to the post all season.
What really stood out was his processing speed and passing vision. Vučević only recorded one assist directly out of a post-up, but that doesn’t tell the full story.
He consistently created scoring chances by drawing help defenders and finding cutters or shooters with quick, instinctive reads. One standout play came when he hit Derrick White on a 45-cut for an easy bucket.
Another time, his pass led to a foul on White mid-cut - a play that doesn’t show up in the box score but reflects high-level decision-making.
Vučević also found shooters on the perimeter with impressive touch passes. He created wide-open looks for White and Sam Hauser - shots that didn’t fall, but the process was clean.
The timing, the recognition, the willingness to make the read - all of it matters. The Celtics haven’t had a big with this level of natural passing feel all season.
And it wasn’t just about playmaking. Vučević was smart about when to assert himself physically.
He didn’t try to force the issue against elite defenders like Bam Adebayo - though he did have one turnover from over-dribbling in that matchup - but he made it a point to punish switches. When he saw smaller defenders like Jaime Jaquez, Dru Smith, or Norman Powell, he went right to the block and demanded the ball.
That awareness paid off in the second half. Vučević flashed to the post 11 times in the third quarter alone - more than he did in the entire first half. He converted a post-up bucket after a switch onto Smith and later took advantage of a scramble that left the paint open for an easy finish off a White entry pass.
It wasn’t a perfect night. With just over a minute left in a tight two-point game, Jaylen Brown tried to force an entry pass to Vučević that sailed high and led to a turnover. It was a tough moment in crunch time, but also a telling one: in his very first game with the team, Vučević had earned enough trust to be a go-to option in the clutch.
The final minutes belonged to Neemias Queta, who helped anchor the defense down the stretch, but Vučević’s impact was undeniable. He logged 27 minutes, including six in the fourth quarter, and showed flashes of what he can bring to this team - not just as a scorer, but as a connector in the half court.
For a Celtics team that’s built around perimeter creation and three-point shooting, Vučević offers something different. He gives them a release valve when the offense bogs down, a big who can punish mismatches, and a passer who can keep the ball moving when defenses collapse.
This was just the beginning, but Boston may have found something real here. Vučević’s debut wasn’t just solid - it was promising. And if this is the first step in building chemistry with his new teammates, the Celtics’ offense just got a whole lot more versatile.