Joe Mazzula’s Secret to Keeping Boston Healthy

ByNBAUSA



BOSTON — The NBA is in a bit of an injury crisis. It feels like every day another star is out, with guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen BrunsonPaolo Banchero and Victor Vembanyama has already missed several games due to injuries sustained at the beginning of the season. Then there are players like Zion Williamson, I Morantand Joel Embiidwho entered the 2025-26 campaign with health problems and is still struggling to stay on the field.

To make matters worse, these names are only a snapshot of the whole picture. Yet somehow, Boston Celtics avoid this plague of injuries.

No star forward Jayson Tatum and the torn Achilles he suffered last season, all of Boston’s regular starters were fully healthy through 15 games. Jailen Brown, Derrick WhitePayton Pritchard and Neemias Cueta have missed zero contests. In fact, outside of center Luke Garza’s errant concussion, the only reason the Celtics have run is for personal reasons or, more often, a coaching decision.

This is not pure luck. While the Celtics are still playing relatively fast, they are in last place in the Association. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise, as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr said on Tuesday that the pace of today’s game was a major factor in the current rise in injuries. Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver realizes there’s a problem.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzula is aware of the high speed the modern NBA. To accommodate this, he decided to ignore typical substitution patterns and simply play whoever is ready.

“I appreciate the wear and tear, the physicality, the things guys do to get their bodies ready to play, and the league plays faster,” Macula said at practice Thursday afternoon. “And I think that’s one of the reasons why not having patterns, playing 11, 12 guys, keeping guys fresh, that’s huge.

During the Celtics’ last win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, Macula played 11 different guys, 10 of whom logged at least 11 minutes. Almost a quarter of the way through the regular season, only three Celtics are averaging over 25 minutes per game.

Mazzula’s strategy was different last season, when seven players averaged 25 minutes or more per outing. Boston was then able to rely on its wealth of talent in the starting lineup, explaining why the bullpen was underrepresented. With Tatum injured and many players from past rotations headed to different teams after the 2025 offseason, Macula decided to play with the hot hand and experiment with new guys, who are always hungry to play, when the time is right.

“At the end of the day, the way to be successful in this league, especially the last few years, has been with effort and toughness and physicality from 94 feet and playing fast on both ends of the floor and pushing the tempo and dictating it,” Macula said. “So it takes a lot more. And I think that’s more the reason why on any given night we rely on whoever is freshest physically and mentally.”

With the Celtics spreading their wealth in terms of playing time, they’ve been able to avoid major injuries and an addiction to load management — two things that have plagued the rest of the league. This is partly out of necessity due to their declining star power, but also because Macula believes in each of his guys in some capacity.

“How can we tap into everyone’s strengths?” he asked rhetorically.

On Friday night, the C’s will likely split their minutes when they face the Nets again. Who shines for the Celtics, whether it’s a rookie or an unsung hero off the bench, remains to be seen from night to night. But you can guarantee that under Mazzulla’s command, each one Celtic will have an opportunity to make an impact.





2025-11-20 21:48:00

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