Luka Garza Was Not Supposed To Be The Whole Story In Boston’s Opener

I was not expecting Luka Garza to be the reason I'd sit here thinking about a Boston preseason game, but here we are. Celtics win 124-113 over Cleveland and Garza puts up 22 points and ten rebounds while the usual names are sitting around in street clothes. Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Paul George and a bunch of the actual rotation didn't play, so this was never going to be some serious test of what the Celtics look like when everything counts. But Garza still went out there and made the most of the opportunity. Devin Carter scored 17 in his debut, Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh each gave them 16, and rookie Chris Cenac Jr. contributed four blocks and eight rebounds. Boston kept sending bodies to the offensive glass and finding ways to stay aggressive. Cleveland had Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen involved early, then both teams got into the normal preseason routine of checking who's ready for what. That's what I came away with: the guys fighting for minutes actually looked like they were fighting for them.

Now the important part: I'm not jumping onto FanDuel expecting Garza to give me 22 and ten when half of Boston's usual team comes back. That's exactly how preseason stats can trick you. What I do care about is whether he actually has a way into the rotation and whether Boston's coaching staff trusts him to rebound and score when the matchup calls for size. Same with Carter, Walsh and Scheierman. These guys are putting a little evidence on the table that they can contribute, but NBA regular-season rotation minutes are a completely different currency from preseason opportunities. And since Boston was playing without a lot of its main creators, you can't just copy their shot attempts into a betting model later. If we're bringing Venom into these articles, I want the model's actual archived player projection sitting next to minutes, injuries and confirmed usage, not a fake 'confidence level' we create because a random October box score looks nice. Garza made me notice him. The next question is whether he gets to keep making people notice once the real team is back.

A good preseason game earns another look. It doesn't guarantee a regular-season role.6IX / WHAT I'M WATCHING