BOSTON — Mike Muscala ran to the right corner in front of the Celtics’ bench on Friday as Jayson Tatum posted up Dennis Smith Jr. Terry Rozier arrived to help and J.T. Thor cheated into the paint area from the corner.
Muscala waited and waited and waited, and nearly the entire Charlotte defense collapsed when Tatum turned the corner. He could’ve found Malcolm Brogdon or Payton Pritchard above the break, but saw his new teammate over Thor’s forehead, already setting to shoot before Bryce McGowens could arrive.
One fluid motion, hip to release, and splash. Muscala shot 9-for-23 (39.1%) from three in his first three games.
Al Horford stepped out of his seat and pumped both fists after Muscala’s first shot as a Celtic fell. Horford also hit his first shot back with the Celtics last season following a trade from the Thunder on a pass from Tatum in 2021. Brad Stevens wasted no time trading a future draft pick and Kemba Walker for Horford, a major statement he owed, in part, to his relationship with Thunder GM Sam Presti. Stevens returned to Oklahoma City several times throughout the first half of this season to check on Muscala. The Celtics called across the league and almost landed Spurs big Jakob Poetl, but Stevens kept finding himself calling back on Muscala.
“As you go through the league, you just keep tidbits in your mind of how you think guys would fit,” Stevens said. “When people described Mike that I knew well, whether in coaching or playing with him, or whatever, they always talked about the way he approached his work, the way he was a teammate and the way he competed to win … anybody that played with him would tell you they loved playing with him, which is like an alarm goes off in your head. That’s a person that you want to have around.”
“We thought he was a guy that could fit with, really, any combination of our bigs, and in the last couple of years, we’ve been good when we played big. He’s versatile enough to do some different things defensively, but he’s also, obviously, super skilled. Makes the right play. Ball doesn’t stick in his hands very long. All that stuff.”
The Celtics already could access plenty of tape on how Muscala would fit alongside his new and old teammate, Horford, who served as a veteran presence in Atlanta when the Hawks traded for the No. 44 overall pick to select him out of Bucknell, the first ever NBA player from there. They haven’t reunited yet as Horford rests his ailing knee, and Muscala plans to sit out Wednesday’s first half finale. He instead logged plus minutes next to Blake Griffin, Luke Kornet and Grant Williams.
Muscala spent one season playing in Spain before joining Horford for the next two in Atlanta, where they played 146 minutes together during Muscala’s rookie season and outscored opponents by 17.4 points per 100 possessions. Next season, Horford’s last with the Hawks before joining the Celtics, saw the pair play 100 minutes and post a -8.6 net rating across 28 games.
They joined again briefly in 2020 when the 76ers sent Horford to Oklahoma City, and Horford played only 28 games all season, recording 28 minutes with his old teammate, but showing promise with a 125.9 offensive rating. Two years later, Horford still remembers Muscala’s maturity as a 22-year-old, now 31, landing with the Hawks as a rookie.
“(He’s) a guy that cares about winning,” Horford told CLNS Media. “I enjoyed playing with him, because he plays the right way … good guy, good locker room guy, wants to compete, he’s going to show up every night … very professional, even from a very young age … he was always very mature and went about his business the right way.”
“It’s pretty seamless. You see him out there, he’s very assertive offensively with the things he wants to do and the spots he needs to get on the floor. I feel like he’s making the right plays out there, so I feel like he’s gotten acclimated to our group and he’s just another guy that’s gonna be able to help us … those years in Atlanta were special. We did a lot of winning there and he was a part of whatever we were building. Just a lot of good memories … we already have a good locker room, he just makes it better.”
Muscala arrived in Boston on Tuesday after playing his final game with Oklahoma City in Los Angeles, an emphatic win over the Lakers on the night where LeBron James broke the all-time scoring record. Muscala hit 4-of-7 tries from three that night, then flew from LA on the night of the deadline to meet Boston’s coaches for a morning session. They reviewed how he can fit into defensive coverages with Joe Mazzulla, who emphasized the way the Celtics need him to space the floor. On defense, Muscala switched less often with the Thunder.
He hit a three two nights later to break Boston out of an offensive drought early against Memphis and hit a floater in the post on a pocket pass from Grant. Both of them moved into the starting lineup during a short-handed effort against the Bucks and Muscala’s impact on the Celtics’ offense shocked teammates. Muscala scored 10 points in five minutes, connecting early and often with Derrick White for a pair of cutting layups and threes.
“It’s a process, but so far it’s been really fun,” Muscala told CLNS Media. “I feel like they give you the structure, but also the freedom to make plays both offensively and defensively. I’m trying to find my spots on offense, and especially tonight, when the game slowed down, it was a good challenge and I’m excited to watch the film and find ways I can improve. I thought our defense to offense in the first half was really good. I thought we were just moving the ball well and getting to a lot of different actions, great cuts. Playing with Blake, I think, was great in that sense, just getting into a lot of good actions. I think that’s something I can improve on, finding ways to keep the offense moving, especially down the stretch.”
Muscala improved to 5-of-6 in the paint with his 18 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday’s loss, crushing a slam past Giannis Antetokounmpo in the third quarter and hitting another short hook in the second. Referees gave him a technical foul for staring at the Bucks’ bench as Sam Hauser and teammates met him at half court to give him high fives.
Malcolm Brogdon and White praised Muscala’s spacing efforts to allow them to shoot 18-for-41 on a night where the Bucks could’ve keyed in on them with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum out. His own aggressive scoring keyed the Celtics’ 125 points, as they needed their shooters to take any available shots.
“He’s been great for us, comes in, we ain’t really have a practice or anything, he kind of just gets thrown in, comes in and shoots the ball really well,” White said. “Spaces the floor, competes and he’s just gonna try to get more and more comfortable as it goes on and he’s still learning our offense, still learning our defense, but he’s been great for us.”
That’s what Mazzulla thought cost Boston on the final possession, turning into a costly turnover by Grant. Muscala didn’t hesitate from the same position one minute earlier, trailing 123-122, and missed the rim completely entering his 44th minute.
Despite escaping with a win, Mike Budenholzer, Muscala’s former coach, knew Boston received a deadline boost.
“Great person. Muskie is one of the all-time greats, favorites,” Budenholzer said. “His teammates are gonna love him, the coaches will love him, just a great person. Then as a player, he’s a very, very good shooter, can play behind the three-point line as a big, then very smart and wise in how he protects the rim, understands everything defensively, can move his feet. They’ve got a good player in Mike Muscala. They’ll enjoy him.”
