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Celtics Mailbag: How will Porzingis’ return impact the rotation? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Kristaps Porzingis’ surprise return Monday night answered the most popular question to start the Celtics’ 2024-25 season, and if anyone questioned Boston as the favorite to repeat, they may have gotten a pretty firm answer there, too.
But Porzingis’ return does create a new series of questions about how his presence will impact the team on the court, as well the roster usage moving forward.
Those queries headline our latest installment of the Celtics Mailbag:
With KP’s return will we see the rotation shrink? Less Luke Kornet/ Neemias Queta minutes, or manage Al Horford minutes? — @HevD32 on X
Which of these 3 should get DNP-CD’s as we stagger Horford and KP for the remainder of the year? Xavier Tillman Sr., Luke Kornet, or Neemias Queta. — @trillklinton on X
It’s funny to me how quickly the conversation shifts from: “Do the Celtics need to trade for another big man?!” to “How can they possibly play all these bigs!?”
The Celtics are pretty fortunate to have the big-man depth they possess, and while I do think it gets tougher for some of these depth pieces to see consistent floor time, there will be opportunity for all of them throughout the regular-season grind.
Here are a couple scenarios to watch for:
Playoff rotation games: We’ve seen Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla crunch to eight-man rotations in some of this season’s marquee games, including Sunday’s visit from the Minnesota Timberwolves and last week’s showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On these nights, if Boston is at full health, two of those three depth pieces are almost certainly getting DNP’d, and maybe all three if Boston doesn’t need spot minutes from another backup big.
Back-to-back games: Even with Porzingis’ return, the Celtics’ schedule has some busy stretches, particularly in January. But Boston also plays five games in seven nights to start December, which is bookended by two back-to-backs.
Presumably, Porzingis and Horford will stagger their rest days — though it will be interesting to see if Boston trots…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-mailbag-porzingis-return-impact-171232041.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-11-27 17:16:00
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