Joe Mazzulla on Nikola Vucevic starting to reintegrate into Boston Celtics post-injury
"He’s got to get his legs underneath him, but I thought, in that fourth quarter run there, his pick and roll defense was good," said Mazzulla.
While it has not exactly gone smoothly, the Boston Celtics are working to reintegrate veteran big man Nikola Vucevic back into the fold after his return from a broken finger sustained just weeks into his tenure with the team. And in the Celtics 113-102 win over the Charlotte Hornets, we saw some inklings of how Vooch can help Boston in the second half of the game. Scoreless and a near liability in the first two frames, the Montenegrin center appeared to get his sea legs back in the third quarter.
, Hopefully, this provides a platform for Vucevic to build on in the final games of the 2025-26 NBA regular season – it certainly caught the attention of Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. "His pick-and-roll defense was great in the second half, and I thought he was more physical in the paint, offensively," said Mazzulla. "(He) got some tipping, tip outs, offensive rebounds, scoring in the paint versus the switch," added the Boston coach.
"And like I said, he’s got to get his legs underneath him, but I thought, in that fourth quarter run there, his pick and roll defense was good," he added. "He got a deflection steal, so he just felt more comfortable out there in playmaking, which comes with time with that. " "So, we just need him to continue to get his legs underneath him, but get comfortable in those playmaking situations on both ends of the floor, and he showed that in the second half.
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