Joe Mazzulla explains surprise change with new Celtics center in Game 3 win

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Joe Mazzulla explains surprise change with new Celtics center in Game 3 win

Brian Robb · MassLive

Sat, Apr 25, 2026 ·

3 min read

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Joe Mazzulla has gone out of his way to give Nikola Vucevic plenty of opportunities since the Celtics acquired him at the trade deadline in February. The Celtics coach took that trust to a different level in Game 3 on Friday night.

With Neemias Queta dealing with constant foul trouble in the first three quarters, Mazzulla stuck with Vucevic for 31 minutes including the entire fourth quarter of a 108-100 win over the Sixers to give Boston a 2-1 series lead.

Queta played just 13 minutes in the loss and came off the bench instead of Vucevic in the second half as Mazzulla leaned on the 35-year-old big man who finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the win.

“Yeah, that’s just our team,” Mazzulla said. “We can change matchups, lineups, sub patterns, it doesn’t matter. The guys care about winning. We have to be open-minded to that, and the guys have been doing a great job of that, we’ve just got to keep that up. I thought Vuc stepped up for us big time tonight on both ends of the floor. Anybody we put in has a chance to help us win. So just got to keep doing that.”

It was the most minutes Vucevic has played since joining the Celtics as he helped stretch the floor with his 3-point range (nine attempts from beyond the arc). It was far from the perfect performance given some defensive struggles for the big man but Vucevic enjoyed a chance to contribute on the bigger stage.

“You know the intensity, you know the stakes are much higher, and, you have to bring your game up to a higher level, especially the physicality,” Vucevic said. “I just felt like tonight was a good example of that. It wasn’t a perfect game, a lot of back and forth, like I said, mistakes here and there which happened, but, we found a way. It was definitely a physical game, especially as far as the bigs battling with Drummond , Bona. It’s fun to be part of these, it’s what you play for. You want to play in the playoffs. You want to hopefully make a deep run, have these big games, it’s the best part of being a professional athlete.”

With Queta dealing with foul trouble now in two of the first three games in this series, Vucevic is eager for a bigger opportunity whenever his name is called. His importance may only grow in Game 4 if Joel Embiid returns to the lineup for Philadelphia .

“I mean whenever you get a win and you’re able to help the team, it’s always fun,” Vucevic said. “It’s what you want to do as a professional athlete, be in these moments, be in big games, be able to deliver for your teammates. It was a good win and on to the next one.”

The Celtics will try to extend their series lead against the Sixers on Sunday night in Game 4.

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