Luka Garza Looks Like Next Man Up for Celtics with Jordan Walsh Out

The Celtics returned Luka Garza to their rotation on Saturday in place of Jaylen Brown, who missed the game with an illness. Garza helped deliver the +15 run to close the first quarter that sparked the Celtics’ 112-96 win over the Raptors after Boston benched four of its starters midway through the first. Prior to that, Garza last played rotation minutes on Nov. 29 against his former Timberwolves team.

“You just gotta be ready. (Garza) has been doing a good job of that,” Neemias Queta said at shootaround on Monday. “All of us, me in my position the last couple of years, I think we prepare really well at practice with extra reps so we can stay locked in and be ready for games whenever our name gets called. We don’t really talk about that stuff that much, but I think he’s a great professional, he’s always there working out and he’s a work horse, that’s his game, he’s going to be out there playing as hard as he can and he’s been huge for us.”

Garza first 233 minutes as the Celtics’ primary second unit starter resulted in a -9.3 net rating per 100 possessions for those lineups, which allowed 123.2 points per 100. Playing without a traditional center yielded a 129.6 offensive rating and 123 defensive rating, so along the thinnest margin, those groups played a more open offensive game. But despite eight games where he logged limited or no minutes following the loss at Minnesota, Garza never felt far from returning to action. He averaged 16.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per 36 minutes and shot 40.7% from three on 27 attempts. His positioning on the offensive glass gave him numerous shots at rebounds that either fell from his grasp or he missed by inches.

That’s the game, though, and the Celtics will need to continue navigating his defensive limitations should they want to have another center in rotation. Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser and Garza began the season as the first three substitutions for the Celtics in most games. That often removed two stronger perimeter defenders and Queta off the floor. They still managed a 116 defensive rating, not good but not horrible, and won their minutes by 2.7 points per 100. Jordan Walsh’s ascension to starting moved Josh Minott to the bench, where the Celtics found the most use for him as a small ball five.

“I got a lot of respect for Luka. I think he changed the game for us. It’s really a credit to the player development staff, to Luka, for just staying ready,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He came out and I thought that he changed the game in the stretch that he played with his physicality and his offensive rebounds, and he helped us come out with the more physical team tonight.”

Garza scored 12 points and 10 rebounds while his screening helped power Payton Pritchard’s 33 points and 10 assists with Brown missing. The Celtics previously beat the league-worst Wizards, missing numerous rotation players, in Brown’s lone absence earlier in the season. Garza’s efforts assisted in beating then supplanting the third seed in the Eastern Conference — one that Boston bodied on the glass, 17-9. The Celtics had effectively conceded the rebounding battle by going small against the Pistons and Heat’s huge lineups last week.

Boston seems to have more balance and depth than it previously seemed should Garza provide matchup-specific scoring, screening and rebounding. He defended competitively in Saturday’s win, and Toronto missed starting center Jakob Poeltl more than the Celtics did Brown with a depth center taking his rotation spot. Later in the game, Queta and Garza played together to further flex their size advantage, a mix that provided a net +0 rating and recalled the efforts Boston made last year to play Queta and Luke Kornet together, which proved successful.

Only the day before, Hugo González’ ability to log center minutes proved revelatory. A few weeks prior, Xavier Tillman Sr. started a back-to-back win at Cleveland with Queta and Derrick White out. Now, Garza’s back with Walsh struggling through an illness to begin this week. Brown will return on Monday against Indiana. Walsh is out after Boston won 12 of his 16 straight starts.

Stunningly, the Celtics have built one of the more flexible and interchangeable rotations in the league, utilizing all 13 active roster players and even two-way big Amari Williams to this point.

“I wanted to get Neemy in the game and I didn’t want to take Luka out because of how well he was playing,” Mazzulla said on Saturday. “It was just for two minutes there to see if they would change their coverage, make sure we rebounded.”