The Boston Celtics went down in painful fashion against the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. Once again, a glaring hole at the backup big man spot — and the inability to corral defensive rebounds — reared its head in what is becoming a familiar trend in Celtics losses this season. Joe Mazzulla has attempted to counter this roster weakness by leaning into small-ball lineups, a strategy that has often produced excellent results. However, against Detroit, a more traditional approach may have been more effective.
It feels almost silly to question Mazzulla at this point in the season and in his tenure as Celtics head coach. He is a Coach of the Year favorite for good reason. Still, sticking with the small-ball lineup against the Pistons felt like a mistake. Detroit ranks second in the league in offensive rebounding percentage at 35.8%. Pairing that strength with Boston’s defensive rebounding issues — now 29th in the league after Monday’s game — created a clear stylistic mismatch.
Josh Minott has been a revelation for the Celtics this season and has a legitimate case for First Team All Vet-Min signings. That said, asking Minott to consistently battle Isaiah Stewart on the glass was a tall order.
Boston defeated Detroit in their previous matchup on November 26, a game in which Mazzulla played Amari Williams for 15 minutes. While those minutes were uneven for the second-round rookie, Williams made a noticeable impact on the defensive glass. So why not try him again? Williams has been diagnosed with a hairline fracture in his right (non-shooting) hand, which may have factored into Mazzulla’s decision. Still, Williams logged 25 minutes for the Maine Celtics just two nights earlier, finishing with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks — suggesting the hand is capable of holding up in game action.
If Mazzulla wasn’t comfortable turning to Williams, why not give Xavier Tillman a look? Since starting against the Cleveland Cavaliers on November 30 — due to Neemias Queta missing the game with an ankle injury — Tillman played 29 minutes of competent basketball in a Celtics win and has barely seen the floor outside of garbage time since. One could point to the Celtics’ five-game winning streak as justification, but both Williams and Tillman contributed during the team’s recent surge.
Of course, this is all with the benefit of hindsight. It’s easy to argue after a loss that Mazzulla should have tried something different tactically. And while I do think turning to Williams or Tillman instead of leaning fully into small-ball could have helped, it’s also true that if the Celtics had an average shooting night, they likely would have beaten the Pistons comfortably.
Despite that, riding with small-ball against Detroit felt like a miscalculation. Going forward, though, Mazzulla should continue to deploy it against the vast majority of opponents. Perhaps the top five teams in offensive rebounding percentage can serve as a guide for when to tap into the admittedly shaky big-man depth at the back end of the roster.
Zooming out, the Celtics have now played the Pistons three times this season, and each game has come down to the wire. That suggests Boston can hang with any team in the Eastern Conference on a given night — or in a playoff series. They are, quite simply, a semi-functional Jayson Tatum away from being the team nobody wants to see early in the postseason.
