Among the most encouraging takeaways from the Celtics’ blowout wins over Orlando and Golden State was the play of Boston’s starting five.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis all were plus-14 or better in last Friday’s 125-94 win over the Magic. All were plus-20 or better in Monday’s 125-85 rout of the Warriors. Both games represented a return to form for a talented unit that had been maddeningly ineffective since Porzingis returned from offseason leg surgery on Nov. 25.
Entering the Orlando game, the Celtics’ preferred starting group — which was pounded by injuries over the first 2 1/2 months of the season — had a net rating of -11.8, the third-worst of any NBA lineup that had played at least 140 minutes together. As of Wednesday, that mark had jumped nearly 10 points to -0.9.
Last season, the same unit outscored opponents by 11.3 points per 100 possessions.
“We’ve gotten better reps,” Mazzulla told reporters after Monday’s win over Golden State. “We’ve gotten better rhythm on the offensive end of the floor, understanding each other’s spacing. There’s more connectivity in the defense. So I like the process of where those guys have been, even throughout some of the times where we haven’t gotten the result we wanted. So we’ve just got to keep the focus on that.”
It’s helped to have Porzingis back healthy and playing to his potential. The center’s stats since missing four games after Christmas with an ankle sprain: 19.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game with 46.7% 3-point shooting.
The rest of the starters have upped their availability, too, allowing the Celtics to avoid the near-nightly lineup changes they cycled through in November and December. Since Jan. 7, the only DNP from any of the top five was one Porzingis rest day on the second night of a back-to-back.
Mazzulla also has tinkered with his early-game substitution patterns, resulting in a more even split of first-quarter playing time between Tatum and Brown. That’s yielded positive results thus far, with Boston outscoring its last three opponents by seven, 12 and 11 points in the opening frame.
Tatum and Brown each played roughly nine first-quarter minutes in all three games. In all but one of the Celtics’ first 40 games, one of the two (usually Tatum) stayed in for the entire quarter, with the other typically heading to the bench around the six-minute mark.
Brown seemed to appreciate the recent shift.
“I feel like I’m usually the one that set the tone for the team, so sometimes not being out there when we kind of have a sluggish start, I feel like at different times in my career, that’s been me to help negate that,” he told reporters after Monday’s win. “But different year, things get switched up, and you’ve just got to be alright with that. I don’t really complain or anything. I just try to come out and be the best version of myself.”
The Celtics will continue their four-game West Coast trip Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.