The Celtics cruised to victory in their final home game of the NBA preseason, pulling away from the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday to win 114-93 at TD Garden.<\/p>\n
Now 3-0 in tune-up games, Boston will look to close out a perfect preseason Friday night in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Six takeaways from Wednesday\u2019s W:<\/p>\n
1. Same starting five<\/p>\n
Mazzulla has played his starters in two out of Boston\u2019s first three preseason games. In both, he opened with the same starting lineup: Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Jayson Tatum, Paul George and Mitchell Robinson.<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that will be the Celtics\u2019 top-choice unit when they open the regular season next Tuesday in Detroit. And given how often Mazzulla cycled through lineups last season \u2014 Boston was the only team to have four different five-man groupings start at least 10 games \u2014 the opening night combo could be phased out at any point.<\/p>\n
But Mazzulla sticking with the same lineup in back-to-back preseason games is notable. Last preseason, he started a different unit in all four games (then debuted a new one in the season opener).<\/p>\n
Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta entered in Boston\u2019s first round of substitutions, followed by Baylor Scheierman and Sam Hauser in the second. Hugo Gonzalez and Luka Garza saw their first action four minutes into the second quarter.<\/p>\n
2. Double big debuts<\/p>\n
It took Robinson some time to settle in Saturday in his Celtics debut, resulting in a few botched early possessions against the Philadelphia 76ers. Not so in this one.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s new center was an impact player from the jump, registering six points and four rebounds in the opening four minutes. He scored the Celtics\u2019 first three field goals, two of them on lobs from Tatum. The pair connected for another lob dunk early in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
The Celtics believe Robinson, their top free agent signing, will massively improve their frontcourt this season, and we\u2019ve seen flashes of that potential in his first two outings. Queta also is off to a strong start; Boston outscored the Sixers and Hornets by 47 points with last season\u2019s No. 1 big on the floor.<\/p>\n
We even saw Robinson and Queta share the floor Wednesday night \u2014 an unusual pairing for a Mazzulla-coached team given both players\u2019 lack of perimeter shooting.<\/p>\n
Mazzulla sent out that double-big lineup to start the second quarter, and it outscored Charlotte 12-2 during its four-minute shift.\u00a0He went back to it to open the fourth, after Charlotte had staged a rally that cut an 18-point lead to seven.<\/p>\n
Again, the results were positive. Robinson pulled down a tough offensive rebound and got fouled, and Queta posterized Moussa Diabate on the ensuing Celtics possession.<\/p>\n
Both checked out with Boston ahead 92-82, and third big Garza helped key an 8-0 run that put the game away.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also worth noting that Queta, who\u2019s worked in training camp on expanding his range, later drilled a foot-on-the-line 19-footer from in front of the Hornets bench. Perhaps we\u2019ll see him venture away from the paint more often this season.<\/p>\n
3. Tatum steady again<\/p>\n
Two games, two encouraging performances for the Celtics\u2019 centerpiece. After putting up 23-5-4 on Saturday, Tatum tallied 19 points on 8-of-17 shooting, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in 29 minutes before sitting out the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Tatum did have four turnovers in the game, and he\u2019s only attempted one free throw this preseason. So, saying he\u2019s looked every bit like his usual All-NBA self would be an exaggeration. But he\u2019s looked confident and composed as he prepares for his first full season post-Achilles surgery.<\/p>\n