Nikola Vucevic is starting to look like himself again, and the Celtics are beginning to see why they went after him at the trade deadline. After a slow return from a broken ring finger, Vucevic has begun to string together stronger performances, and Friday’s win over the Pelicans gave him another chance to build rhythm and chemistry with a new team.
That mattered because Boston clinched the No. 2 seed on Friday night, adding weight to every possession with the playoffs around the corner. Vucevic also helped in a way that went beyond scoring, recording assists on three straight possessions against the Pelicans and showing the kind of quick decisions Boston has wanted from him since the deal.
The improvement was not hard to spot if you had seen the previous night. Against the Knicks on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, Vucevic went 1-3 from the field in the first half and finished as the Celtics’ team-low minus-8 before settling in later. On Friday, the difference was clear: he knocked down shots, controlled the glass and made the right play.
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Joe Mazzulla said the challenge is bigger than just learning a playbook. He noted that moving from Chicago, where Vucevic was starting, to a completely different situation takes time, and that people often underestimate how long that transition can take. He added that when Vucevic plays with physicality on defense, rebounds, screens and makes shots, it changes what Boston can be.
Vucevic said the first couple of games after the injury still felt a little sore, and that he was sometimes hesitant. He said the last two games have been much better, with the focus shifting from the finger to simply playing. That is the kind of progress Boston needed after Thursday night’s short-handed loss to the Knicks, and it is the kind of progress that can matter most now, with the postseason close and every game starting to look like a rehearsal for it.
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The deadline move brought Vucevic into a team with little time to waste, and his early stretch was slowed by recovery. Now, with two better games in the bank and a clear role taking shape, the Celtics have a veteran who may be arriving at just the right moment.
