BOSTON — While Torrey Craig hadn’t played in a game since Dec. 30, 2024, the newest Celtics signee said he felt better than expected. An ankle injury kept him out for weeks while he was with the Bulls, then he was waived by the organization afterwards.

That opened the door for Craig to sign with the Celtics, and he was an unexpected upgrade to available ahead of the win against the Spurs on Wednesday. Considering the C’s were without two starters in Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday, it opened the door for Craig to make his Boston debut in the blowout Spurs victory.

“It was crazy,” Craig said. “The atmosphere, the crowd, the fans. It’s just a joy to play in front of a crowd like that. And yeah, man, I’m just glad I made my debut in the Garden. I’m glad I hit my first shot.”

Craig finished with nine minutes played, putting up six points and an assist while shooting 2-for-2 on 3-pointers. While he didn’t get a ton of playing time, the 34-year-old showed why the Celtics went out and got him from the buyout market. The 6-foot-8 wing should slide right in as a physical defender who can knock down open shots.

The Celtics won’t need to rely on Craig on a nightly basis — especially when they’re fully healthy. But considering the C’s are still loaded, Craig is another insurance option on nights like Wednesday where they’re shorthanded. Come the playoffs, Craig can also be another matchup option depending on the opponent.

So the C’s now go into the All-Star break after generating momentum. They’ve won seven of their last eight games to get to 39-16 on the season. Craig now also gets a chance to rest up while preparing for the final stretch of the year ahead of the playoffs.

“Just catching up on everything,” Craig said. “Trying to echo the right calls and catch up on a lot of the lingo because a lot of the stuff is pretty simple. And I’ve been around a long time, so I done seen a lot of the coverages, just getting the names familiar with everything and learning the lingo.”

Here’s everything else the Celtics said about Craig’s debut:

Joe Mazzulla: “He’s got an important role just because of his versatility, right? So it’s going to take time for him to understand the language and the things that we do on both ends of the floor, and you can watch as much film and walk through it, but until he’s in the game, it’s going to just continue to be a conversation of how we could utilize his versatility on both ends of the floor. So he did some of that tonight with his defensive versatility, and making those two shots. So I’m just going to get him up to speed.”

Jayson Tatum: “He integrated pretty well. We didn’t have practice or anything like that, so we kind of threw him in the on the fly. But it’s part of being a professional, staying ready. Obviously he’ll get better, more comfortable with us and likewise as the season progresses. But he gave us a spark off the bench, hit some threes, backed up on the defensive end, and that’s what we expect from him.”

Kristaps Porzingis: “I think he was excellent, honestly. He’s going to bring energy, he hit a couple shots, he looked comfortable out there. We want him to be engaged like he is. He’s talking. He’s communicated from day one. Good vet presence. He’s older than I thought. I thought he was younger than me, he’s a little bit older. So he’s a good voice to have in the locker room for sure, and just a good personality to have around.”

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