BOSTON — It took only 3:02 before Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called upon Nikola Vučević, 48 hours after acquiring him from the Bulls, into Friday night’s game against the Heat.
Vučević was greeted with a warm welcome. Chants of “Vooch” echoed through TD Garden as the 15-year veteran checked in for the first time in a Celtics uniform, with anticipation surrounding the team’s newest frontcourt addition. He rewarded that enthusiasm with an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double in Boston’s 98-96 come-from-behind win over Miami, playing 28 minutes off the bench.
Still, with 41 regular-season games remaining, Vučević wasn’t inclined to overhype his debut. If anything, he viewed it as only a glimpse of what the Celtics — and their fans — can expect as the season progresses.
“It’s a work in progress,” Vučević said. “It’s not gonna happen overnight. It’s gonna take some time, but I can already see certain things were on, and certain things we do where I’ll still be able to find my actions — still be aggressive, and do different things.”
First impressions of the Celtics experience proved misleading amid an uncharacteristic first-half slump. Boston opened the night shooting an atrocious 6 of 24, managing just 15 points in the first quarter. That struggle carried into the second, as — over a brutal 24 minutes — the Celtics looked like the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting team. They made just one of their first 20 attempts from deep, entering halftime at 5 percent and drawing a drizzle of (deserved) boos from the home crowd.
The optimism and cheers that followed an Anfernee Simons ovation against the Bucks — and were later passed on to Vučević — quickly turned into Vučević’s first pop quiz at ‘Celtic University.’ The test centered on adversity, a required course in the developmental process and a focal point of Mazzulla’s coaching philosophy, which treats basketball and its challenges as a reflection of life.
Trailing by more than 20 points in the third quarter wasn’t a brand-new experience for this Celtics team. But with Vučević now part of the equation, Boston once again turned a steep deficit into a learning opportunity — and, for Vučević, his first lesson abroad the program.
“For a first game, it was good,” Vučević said. “Obviously, we can continue to build on it and figure things out and get a feel for playing alongside each other out there on the court. But overall, thought it went pretty well.”
BOSTON, MA – FEBRUARY 6: Nikola Vucevic #4 and Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics talk during the game against the Miami Heat on February 6, 2026 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) NBAE via Getty Images
The quick turnaround from departing Chicago to flying out to Boston left Vučević with limited time to absorb everything he needed before taking the floor Friday night. With less than two days to prepare, he was tasked with immersing himself in Celtics basketball and its demands — a weight carried not only by Vučević, but by his new teammates as well.
That shared responsibility was what stood out most to Mazzulla afterward.
“Two thoughts: One, I thought he did a great job from the day he got to Boston until tip-off, preparing for everything — our languages, our coverages, what we needed to do — and I thought he put himself in position to help us. And then credit to the guys for having a quick understanding of why we acquired him, how he can make us better, and how we can make him better. I thought those two things were on display tonight on both ends of the floor, and he impacted winning.”
Vučević did what he could in the hours leading up to his Celtics debut, maximizing the little time he had at his disposal. That included a brief meet-and-greet at the Auerbach Center before an immediate shift into familiarizing himself with Boston’s system.
“As soon as I met with the coaching staff after they landed from Houston, all of them came straight to the facility,” Vučević revealed. “We did a detailed walkthrough, went over a lot of stuff, watched a lot of film. Then Amile Jefferson, whom I played with in Orlando, took me through some stuff, and they sent me a bunch of film, a bunch of stuff to look over.”
Vučević and Jefferson shared two seasons with the Magic before reuniting six years later in Boston.
However, Vučević’s familiarity with Jefferson wasn’t the only factor smoothing his transition. Boston’s need for an elite stretch five to help space the floor adds a new layer to the frontcourt that the team believes will click over time.
“It’ll flow,” Jaylen Brown envisions. “We’ve done well with shooting fives in the past, so I think it’ll flow. I think we have a lot of room for improvement, so I’m looking forward to finding that sweet spot. We don’t even have to force it; it’ll just flow naturally. His game fits in with our team well, so it’ll happen.”
The track record speaks for itself. Centers capable of generating offense from the perimeter have thrived in Boston, as Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford can attest. Vučević fits that mold as a versatile pick-and-pop threat, reliable from mid-range and 3-point territory. He’s a career 35.1% shooter from three, and is connecting on 37.4% of his attempts this season.
Over time, the goal is to gradually integrate Vučević and his skill set into the team. His debut against Miami was just the first step in that process — a challenging one, onboarding on the fly as Boston faced a 22-point hole, the only thing standing between them and a fifth straight win and reclaiming the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
“I tried to take as much as I could to be able to play out there, and not negatively impact the team,” Vučević said. “So I think I did a pretty good job absorbing a lot of information they threw at me.”
It wasn’t Vučević’s first rodeo at the Garden, but it was the first where Boston fans were rooting for him instead of against him. The difference was immediate, and Vučević saw firsthand why his teammates and coach Mazzulla emphasize the impact of the home crowd’s energy in helping the team grind out wins, like their comeback over the Heat.
“It’s one of the loudest places in the NBA,” Vučević said. “I know from playing the Celtics before, but it’s much nicer when the fans are behind you and supporting you. Boston fans really know sports; they really know basketball.”