For much of the past month, Luka Garza was the forgotten man in the Celtics rotation. The veteran center began the season as Joe Mazzulla’s top option as a backup big after signing a two-year deal with Boston this offseason. However, the Celtics struggled with him on the court defensively, leading to his minutes being cut in early December. Days later, Garza fell out of the rotation as the team turned to small ball options at center like Josh Minott and Jordan Walsh.
After being out of the rotation for eight games this month, Garza finally got his chance again on December 20 against the Raptors with Jaylen Brown out and Jordan Walsh sick. He made the most of that opportunity with a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds), earning another shot in a Pacers win Monday when Boston was shorthanded again without Walsh.
On Friday night against the Pacers, the Celtics were back fully healthy (outside of Jayson Tatum), leading to a clear choice for Joe Mazzulla with Garza’s playing time. The Celtics coach opted for minutes for Garza yet again and the decision paid off as the backup center continued his impressive turnaround with 15 points (5-of-5 FG) and four rebounds in 27 minutes during a 140-122 blowout win over the Pacers.
It was the third straight stellar performance for Garza, who is suddenly a huge asset for Boston off the bench in the past week. He led Boston in plus/minus (+26) in Friday’s win and is a +62 overall over the last three games since getting a second chance at backing up Neemias Queta.
Garza is averaging 11 points and 7.7 rebounds per game during that stretch while posting a net rating of +39.7. That run has single-handedly changed his season net rating from a negative (-7.5) to a positive (+3.5) in just three games.
With Garza thriving again in the middle, a minutes squeeze has developed for Boston’s surplus of young wings. On Friday night, with Garza and Baylor Scheierman (+18) thriving, Josh Minott was the odd man out, getting his first DNP-CD since the second game of the season against the Knicks.
The fourth-year forward has been a bright spot this year but Garza’s offensive rebounding has given the Celtics a massive boost of late, contributing to a four-game winning streak. Minott’s numbers are solid but he’s simply been outplayed in recent games by Garza, Hugo Gonzalez and company, leaving him with a surprise night off.
The shift is unlikely to last long as Mazzulla has mixed up playing time consistently this year, but the move signals exactly how well Boston’s new-look bench is performing this year. Minott has been a standout for much of the season, posting career-highs across the board and shooting 44 percent from 3 but even he isn’t guaranteed minutes with other options also thriving.
The wealth of bench options has helped Boston climb out to a surprise 19-11 start to the season while giving Mazzulla the flexibility to match up how he wants to any given night.
