Three times, the Celtics fought and fell short of their first win of the 2025-26 season, with each loss defined by the same problem: an inability to rebound. On Monday night against the Pelicans, they turned to fourth-year forward Josh Minott for his first career NBA start.
That decision paid off tremendously.
Minott joined Neemias Queta in Joe Mazzulla’s double-big lineup, a move designed to counter a winless, Zion Williamson-less Pelicans squad. Boston entered the night ranked 25th in the league in rebounds per game (39), and relying on Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard to mask that deficiency simply wasn’t sustainable. So it quickly became a time for creativity for Mazzulla, who had just 24 hours earlier inserted rookie Hugo Gonzalez into the starting lineup in Detroit.
This time, with Minott getting a chance to pinch-hit, the 22-year-old rewarded the Celtics with 15 points, nine rebounds, a steal, and a block across 28 minutes. He finished with a +42 plus-minus, tying for the 8th-best mark recorded in team history (play-by-play era).
“I’m still kind of high on life from the game right now,” Minott said after Boston’s 122-90 win over New Orleans. “I mean, just the opportunity to be out there, just to contribute to winning, contribute to team success. I can’t take that for granted. Joe’s given me that opportunity, and I just don’t want to allow that to go in vain.”
Minott’s mission was accomplished at Smoothie King Center.
On the very first play of the game, after White secured the jump-ball deflection for Boston, Minott soared to the rim and hammered home an alley-oop from White, giving the Celtics an immediate spark.
From there, Minott’s nearly 7-foot wingspan helped the Celtics turn defense into offense throughout the night. In the second quarter, he intercepted a hand-off pass from Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey and finished with a two-handed dunk on the other end, taking advantage of a wide-open floor. Minott crashed hard after hanging on the rim a moment too long, but bounced back to his feet seconds later and immediately returned to disrupting New Orleans on the inbound.
“I cocked it back, and I was thinking about just flushing it — you know, just a little clean flush,” Minott recalled. “But then I’m like, ‘A game like this, it’s a must-win.’ So I’m like, I don’t wanna break the dunk, so I’m just gonna make sure the ball goes through the rim. So, like in life, I held on too long — sometimes you just gotta let go in life. But it didn’t hurt, though.”
To no surprise, Minott’s “can’t-keep-me-down” demeanor lined up perfectly with what Mazzulla expected.
“He doesn’t have a choice,” Mazzulla said of Minott’s second-quarter fall. “You get hurt, you’re not playing ever again. So he had the right attitude. He got up, and he almost got the deflection, I think. Again, it hasn’t gone the way we anticipated, but I think we’ve gotten better physically and mentally, and those plays show that. You have to stay hungry. You have to keep playing. You’ve got to keep chipping away at the identity that we need to create. I think Josh has bought into that.”
Mazzulla’s decision to give Minott meaningful minutes showed that, while the Celtics might not be able to rely on outmatching opponents in talent like they have in past seasons, they can outwork them. Sending that message is only one side of the coin — the other is putting that philosophy into action, which the Celtics are striving to do with a cast of unproven role players. Minott spent three seasons with the Timberwolves without logging a single career start before making his Boston debut in the team’s fourth game of the season. Mazzulla’s trust in him paid off this time, but the Celtics still need to find consistency for the formula to work over the long haul.
Between Minott, Queta, Chris Boucher, Luka Garza, and Xavier Tillman Sr., the Celtics can turn any direction at any given time. Mazzulla isn’t waiting around. If the moment demands a substitution, Mazzulla is pulling that trigger without hesitation. And this isn’t some scheme designed to pile pressure on the frontcourt, either. Boston is essentially hosting Open Mic Night each week under the basket, with every center on the roster welcome to showcase their skills until Mazzulla decides it’s time for a change.
Minott has no issue with that.
“It forces all of us to understand that it could be anyone’s opportunity that night,” Minott said. “And what I love about that is you have to wake up each day and realize, I have to lock in, because I could be the one to help us impact winning that night. So all 15, 16 — however many of us there are — you just gotta wake up each day and understand, like, ‘This could be my night to really help us impact winning.’”
