How the Celtics feel about going small

Boston Celtics

“Both teams were doing it to each other. When you have ten guys out there that can do it it just becomes a track meet.”

As the Celtics sit at 9-8 following a 138-129 win over the Magic on Sunday, they may begin to look different in the coming weeks.

Center Neemias Queta has been a bright spot for Boston this season on a team that lacks size. He leads the team in net rating, with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 16.8 points per 100 minutes with him on the court, while being outscored by 6.3 with him on the bench.

Along with this, Queta leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 per game, an uptick from his 3.8 last season.

Boston may be without their big man coming up however, as Queta went down with an ankle injury in Sunday’s victory, and was unable to return to the game. It has been reported that it was an ankle sprain, with no designation for how long he will be out yet.

This forced the Celtics to experiment with different lineups Sunday, alternating between a traditional center replacement in Chris Boucher and a small-ball five in Josh Minott.

Head coach Joe Mazzula sees the pros and cons of both of these options as he works to figure out what will be best for his team.

“Always advantages and disadvantages,” Mazzulla told reporters postgame when asked about playing small. “The advantages: the speed we can play with on the offensive end, the dribble-drive, the pace that we can create. Defensively we can pressure a little bit more.”

Mazzulla is aware that while this lineup worked against the Magic, it was in part due to Orlando’s lack of size as well so they could match up well.

“Both teams were doing it to each other,” Mazzulla continued. “So you have to just continue to work on reads, angles, communication, individual defense. That’s the disadvantage-advantage of playing small. When you have ten guys out there that can do it it just becomes a track meet.”

The most successful lineup on Sunday was a direct Minott for Queta replacement to go along with the other starters. They ended the game +9 overall in the eight minutes they had together.

Along with Minott coming off the bench, Anfernee Simons put up 23 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting.

Simons agreed with Mazzulla about the advantages of playing small after the game, as he thought the Celtics were at their best when they were playing a quick pace.

“It just made us play even faster,” Simons told reporters. “They went to a couple small lineups as well, but for us, we just played the same exact way. Like I said, play even faster.”

Boston will hope for good news surrounding Queta’s ankle, but can have confidence in holding their own without him as they host the Pistons Wednesday night.