Joe Mazzulla trusted an unlikely guard in Celtics win over Rockets — and it paid off

HOUSTON — At the Celtics’ team meeting on Wednesday morning, two-way player Ron Harper Jr. saw his name on the whiteboard.

It quickly dawned on him: for the first time in his four-year NBA career, he was going to start in an NBA basketball game.

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“I knew I was getting a start,” Harper Jr. said, “and I just knew I had to be ready.”

The extended chance came, in part, because Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser were both being sidelined on the second night of a back-to-back. On top of that, Anfernee Simons, who has been one of the Celtics’ primary guards all season, was traded to Chicago earlier in the week. So, a backcourt opportunity emerged that simply hadn’t been there earlier in the season.

But, the decision to give Harper Jr. the start was also the result of Joe Mazzulla having complete trust in his young guys and two-way players to step up in big moments. Last month, it was fellow two-way player Amari Williams who got multiple starts and even crucial minutes in a double-overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets.

This time, it was Harper.

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“You feel just as comfortable starting him as you do anyone else,” said Mazzulla. “Because you know he’s ready to go.”

Harper Jr. came out of the gates flying. He hit his first three three-pointers of the game, and finished the night with a career-high 11 points.

But what stood out most to Joe Mazzulla was his immediate tenacity on the glass; he finished the game with a career-best 9 rebounds.

“He got off to a great start with two defensive rebounds that he got to start the game,” Mazzulla said. “That showed that he was ready to go — and that stuck out to me more. And then the defense came, and then the shotmaking came, and I thought he had great presence.”

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Most impressive was his work on the defensive end; for most of the night, Harper Jr. had to chase around one of the greatest scorers in the history of basketball, Kevin Durant.

“Don’t let him score, man,” Harper Jr. said of his mindset. “Just do everything in my power to just try to deny him the ball, try denying catches, and try to make his life difficult. And I…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/joe-mazzulla-trusted-unlikely-guard-075539399.html

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Publish date : 2026-02-05 07:55:00

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