In the NBA of today, it is a rarity to see a head coach pull all five players off the court at once to replace them hockey-sub style. But that is exactly what we witnessed in the Boston Celtics’ 103-95 home win vs. the Indiana Pacers on Monday (Dec. 22) night. With the Celtics looking flat in terms of energy and unfocused, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla made a radical call — and the move to swap the starters for the bench en masse paid off in a major way.
The Celtics chipped away at the lead in the game’s third quarter, and took control of the tilt in the fourth to secure their 18th win of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. After the contest, Mazzulla opened up on the unusual substitution strategy he deployed to great effect. “We always talk about depth, we always have 12-13 guys that are able to help us win games at any different moment,” he explained.
“So, I just thought it was a good opportunity to utilize the depth that we have, and you saw a game where depth comes in many different ways, and that’s it.,” said Mazzulla.
“You know, at any point in time everybody on our bench can impact winning,” suggested the Celtics coach. So, it’s just a great opportunity to take advantage of the depth that we have.”
“I thought those guys did a great job of just kind of changing the pace of the game.”
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