The Celtics had just one practice with Nikola Vucevic before the big man made his debut on Friday night against the Heat. However, the veteran center adapted in impressive fashion to his new surroundings, helping the Celtics rally from 22 points down for a 98-96 comeback win at TD Garden.
Vucevic posted a double-double in his debut with 11 points and 12 rebounds, making a strong impression on his new coach and teammates as he learns Boston’s new system. His work on that front stood out to Joe Mazzulla immediately.
“I thought he did a great job from the day he got to Boston right to tip off preparing,” Mazzulla said. “Preparing for everything — our language, our coverages, what we needed to do. I thought he put himself in position to help us. And then I think credit to the guys for having a quick understanding about why we acquired him and how he can make us better, and how we can help to make him better. So I thought those two things were kind of on display tonight on both ends of the floor, and he impacted winning, so we’ve got to continue to get better in a bunch of areas, and it starts with that togetherness, that communication and the execution.”
Vucevic led all of the Celtics centers with 28 minutes of playing time and helped Boston climb out of a miserable shooting first half by creating easy looks with Derrick White in the pick-and-roll and by sealing his man on switches.
“I thought it was good,” White said of their connection. “Obviously, they did a lot of switching. Kind of made it difficult. Just having another weapon for us to use. For the first game, we got a lot we can improve on. It’s exciting.”
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 29 points in the comeback win and knows how crucial the big man could be for Boston after they traded away Anfernee Simons for the frontcourt addition on Thursday.
“I’ve been talking to him,” Brown said. “His progression is huge for us, so, my mind is always thinking, how can we integrate him? How can I make him comfortable? Because we’re going to need him going down the line, so I want him to get comfortable as quick as possible. And our whole team is, you saw it tonight, everybody’s looking for him, everybody’s trying to get involved, even if it was a little bit too much. I think that’s a good sign of like, the awareness for our team. I think Nikola is going to be good for our team, he’s big for our team. We need our front court to be able to help win us some games. So his integration is key. So I’ll be looking for that for the remainder of the year.”
A big test is on the horizon for the Celtics and Vucevic on Sunday afternoon as the Knicks front line of Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson come to Boston for a Super Bowl Sunday matinee.
