BOSTON — Nikola Vučević’s Boston Celtics education began at the team’s practice facility Thursday.
The rest of the team flew back from Houston early that day. When the plane landed, Vučević said, the coaches headed straight for the practice facility. Vučević, acquired from the Chicago Bulls at the trade deadline, met them there. He did a walk-through on the court and watched some film, soaking up everything the coaching staff communicated to him. Then, Amile Jefferson, Vučević’s former teammate with the Orlando Magic, fed the 35-year-old center even more information and sent him more film to review.
Vučević studied it all.
“I thought he did a great job, from the day he got to Boston right to tipoff, preparing,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Preparing for everything — our language, our coverages, what we needed to do. I thought he put himself in position to help us.”
Vučević wanted to learn as much as he could about his new team without overthinking it all. As new as everything would be, he wanted to avoid getting in the way of his instincts.
Those instincts took over with less than two minutes left in his Celtics debut, a 98-96 comeback win against the Miami Heat. With Boston trailing by 1 point, Jaylen Brown penetrated to the paint and spun around to fire the ball to Vučević at the 3-point arc. When Jaime Jaquez Jr. attempted to intercept the pass, Vučević drove by him and noticed the rest of the Heat defense in rotation. Noticing Davion Mitchell drifting off Derrick White in the corner, Vučević spotted his new teammate wide open in the right corner. White splashed home a go-ahead 3-pointer that counted as the final basket.
“I think that’s an exciting part of his game,” White said, “is his passing ability and ability to find different guys. And so he was able to find me, and I was able to knock it down.”
The Celtics won’t need to change their entire style to adapt to Vučević, but his presence will force them to shift certain aspects of their approach. In the big man’s first game, Mazzulla blamed himself for giving Boston’s players too much information about all the tweaks they might need to implement eventually. Mazzulla suggested his “stupidity” contributed to his team’s ugly start. The Celtics missed 19 of their 20 3-point attempts during the first half while falling behind 59-38.
“I think when you add a piece, you’re trying to anticipate things — what are the matchups, what are the coverages, what plays, what are the reads in these plays?” Mazzulla said. “So I thought I kind of put the guys in a tough spot to start the game, just processing all the what-if scenarios, and thought we were just kind of bogged down by those things, and it kind of impacted it. Once we just kind of simplified it, and once the game went on and we were able to see those reads, I thought the guys did a much better job.”
Once that happened, Vučević’s talent emerged. He finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and the Celtics outscored Miami by 11 points over his 28 minutes. Even without much time to prepare, he led Boston’s big men in playing time. Mazzulla trusted Vučević enough to throw him on the court for some key possessions, including the one that produced White’s game-winning 3-pointer.
“I thought he put himself in position to help us,” Mazzulla said. “And then, I think, credit to the guys for having a quick understanding about why we acquired him and how he can make us better and how we can help to make him better. So I thought those two things were kind of on display tonight on both ends of the floor, and he impacted winning. So, we’ve got to continue to get better in a bunch of areas, and it starts with that togetherness, that communication and the execution.”
For Vučević, the trade should bring a significant adjustment. Before Friday, he had come off the bench only eight times since his rookie season in 2011-12. Though Mazzulla said he hasn’t decided who will start in the new-look frontcourt, it’s at least a possibility that Neemias Queta, amid a breakout season, will remain the starter. Vučević said he doesn’t care whether he starts or comes off the bench but recognizes he won’t play the same role he did in Chicago either way.
“Talking to Coach, he does like to be flexible with different lineups, different rotations,” Vučević said. “That’s something we talked about. I told him I was totally open to that. I totally understand that my role will be different than what it was for most of my career in Chicago and Orlando before. I was fine with that.”
Vučević won’t be the only player adjusting. Acquiring him will open lineup options the Celtics didn’t try much before. For the second straight game, Mazzulla started a big group, with Luka Garza next to Queta. The two centers had played only three minutes together all season before Wednesday night’s win in Houston, but the team played great with that duo on the court while blowing out the Rockets.
The minutes for the big starting lineup didn’t go nearly as well against the Heat. The Celtics gave up an 8-0 run to start the game, going scoreless over the first three minutes. After Queta picked up two fouls over the first 3:02, Vučević and Payton Pritchard checked in as the game’s first subs. The crowd welcomed Vučević with a loud ovation.
Some fans had been hoping to see him in green for a while. Linked to the Celtics in rumors long before the organization landed him, Vučević used to hear from fans about the possibility of joining the team.
“Whenever we played here,” Vučević said. “Honestly, if I’d go walk in the streets or whatever, go to a restaurant, there would be people that would come up to me and be like, ‘We need you in Boston. Come to Boston.’”
It took years for the possibility to materialize, but Vučević enjoyed his first experience as a member of the home team at TD Garden.
“It was great,” Vučević said. “Obviously, we got down a lot. But as you know, in the third quarter, once we started making that run, it was really fun to get the crowd into it. It’s very loud — one of the loudest places in the NBA. I know, even from playing against the Celtics before, but it’s much nicer when the fans are behind you, supporting you. But it was great. Boston fans really know sports. They really know basketball. I could really hear people cheer. It was fun hearing my name getting cheered, especially the ovation I got when I first got subbed in. I really appreciate that.”
Mazzulla will need to figure out how to handle his deeper frontcourt, but Vučević is expected to play a significant role. During the third quarter, he and the Celtics didn’t need much time to come back from a big deficit. Pritchard and White drained back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third quarter, and Pritchard added another triple and an and-1 moments later. Vučević followed up with 6 points over the next 1:23 to pull the Celtics within 70-69. During the flurry, he grabbed two offensive rebounds, finished a layup from White, tipped home his own miss on a post-up and drew a foul while trying to post up again. The stretch showed the new dimension Vučević could bring to the Celtics offense.
“I think just understanding what his strengths are, getting the ball where he could be impactful for himself and for others,” Mazzulla said. “And I think that third-quarter run where we were able to get paint touches, we were able to get layups, we were able to get deep, deep duck-ins, we were able to get kick-out 3s, we were able to use him as a screener. So, I think, just recognizing, ‘OK, how are you going to impact me? How am I going to impact you?’ We took advantage of it with our offensive execution, and I think he took pride in his defense tonight.”
BIG time block 🚫
Derrick sealed the deal in tonight’s @JetBlue Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/2GcXC0hs7K
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) February 7, 2026
White helped seal the game for the Celtics by blocking Mitchell with 33 seconds left. The Heat got another chance down 2 points in the closing seconds, but Mitchell missed an open 3-pointer after Andrew Wiggins found him in the corner.
Later, in the locker room, Vučević and Pritchard discussed some plays they could have executed better. As well as Vučević performed in his Boston debut, he and the team believe he’ll only improve with more experience in his new environment. Brown, who led the Celtics with 29 points, said it will take “a little bit of time to build that chemistry,” but he believes the unselfish nature of the roster will help.
“I’ll be talking to him,” Brown said. “I’ve already — I’ve been talking to him. His progression is huge for us, so my mind is always thinking: ‘How can we integrate him? How can I make him comfortable?’ Because we’re going to need him going down the line, so I want him to get comfortable as quick as possible. And our whole team is, you saw it tonight, everybody’s looking for him, everybody’s trying to get involved, even if it was a little bit too much. I think that’s a good sign of, like, the awareness for our team. I think Nikola is going to be good for our team; he’s big for our team. We need our frontcourt to be able to help win us some games. So, his integration is key. So I’ll be looking for that for the remainder of the year.”