Why Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla went with odd Game 7 starting lineup…
Luka Garza, Ron Harper Jr. and Baylor Scheierman began a mixed 29 games all season.
2026 Coach of the Year finalist Joe Mazzulla started the Boston Celtics’ season-ending Game 7 loss Saturday evening with all three of them in the starting lineup as soon as All-NBA staple Jayson Tatum was dominated out previous to gametime with a calf injury.
Tatum, who returned in March after rupturing his Achilles nearly precisely one 12 months in the past to the date, injured his other leg during Boston’s Game 6 loss on April 30, forcing him to be day-to-day.
Joe Mazzulla appears to be like on during the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7. Getty Images
Mazzulla determined, without Tatum, that the team would also bench starting heart Neemias Queta for Garza, and add Harper Jr. and Scheierman on the wings instead of Tatum and sharpshooter Sam Hauser.
“I thought it was a couple things we saw tactically we wanted to test out,” Mazzulla said in protection of his weird starting 5 in Game 7. “Obviously, give the series a little bit of a different feel and take advantage of the roster that we had, and take advantage of the guys that can impact plays and whatnot. So that was great by the guys, and we came up short.”
There was a stretch the place Scheierman did start over Hauser during the season, so that change wasn’t as eyebrow-raising contemplating that the latter had been struggling — capturing under 35 p.c from three over Games 2-6 — for most of the collection.
Celtics star Jayson Tatum sat out Game 7 with a leg injury. Getty Images
Luka Garza began at heart in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers. NBAE by way of Getty Images
Scheierman also shared 20 of the 29 begins talked about above.
But Harper, who had 11 profession appearances in three seasons before 2025-26, began three of his 29 showings during the common season, and he only performed in the first 4 minutes of Game 7.
Garza, who had six begins all 12 months, averaged about eight minutes per game this collection and logged just over eight in Game 7 while starting at heart for Queta, who ended the collection with a playoff-best 73.5 efficient field-goal share and one in every of the most environment friendly rebounders with 8.6 boards in just 21.7 per contest.
Queta, in Game 7, had 17 factors and 12 rebounds in just over 32 minutes, capturing 7-for-8 from the flooring.
Baylor Scheierman began in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers. NBAE by way of Getty Images
The Celtics, identified primarily for his or her live-by-the-three, die-by-the-three model of play, shot 13-for-49 from deep, which Mazzulla also defended post-game.
“I love the looks that we got. I love the process that we had. Hate the result,” he said.
By advantage of the loss, Philly will take their momentum to Madison Square Garden for the Eastern Conference semifinals starting Monday for a seven-game collection with the Knicks.
Ron Harper Jr. began in Game 7 and logged 4 minutes. NBAE by way of Getty Images
The 76ers, who misplaced to the Knicks in six games during Round 1 of the 2024 playoffs, haven’t made it to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001, the place they made it to the NBA Finals behind Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo.
The Knicks are favored to go to back-to-back convention finals, which they haven’t completed since 1999 and 2000.
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