So that is what Tyler Zeller is capable of.
After a largely lackluster — though slowly improving — start to his first preseason with the Boston Celtics, Zeller finally put together a truly impressive performance Wednesday night in Portland, Maine.
The 24-year-old played just 18 minutes in the Celtics’ 92-89 loss to the Toronto Raptors, including just six in the second half, but made the most of his limited floor time. Zeller nailed all six of his field goals (his lone miss of the night came at the foul line) and formed a potent pick-and-roll combo with Evan Turner, who got the starting nod at point guard for the first time this preseason.
That production was coupled with some nice play of the defensive end, highlighted by this sequence of back-to-back blocks to close out the first half.
“Evan Turner did a great job hitting me,” Zeller told reporters after the game, via MassLive.com. “He made my job a lot easier: just making layups. I’m just trying to get used to my teammates and hopefully continue to grow. I feel like I’m getting back to what I’m supposed to be doing. And hopefully I can continue to grow in that and continue to become even better than I used to be.”
The timing of Zeller’s breakout — he finished with a season-high 13 points — was interesting, if only because of what it followed. Before the game, head coach Brad Stevens said “it would be tough (for anyone) to unseat” the team’s current starting center, Kelly Olynyk, in the two weeks before the regular season begins.
This comment didn’t come as a huge surprise. Stevens clarified that no roster spot is set in stone, and Olynyk certainly has played well enough this preseason — particularly when paired with Jared Sullinger — to earn a starting nod. Having Zeller as a contributing member of that frontcourt would be a huge boost, however, for a Celtics team that is severely lacking in size.
Boston even tried out a super-small lineup for one stretch Wednesday, with Evan Turner, Marcus Smart, Marcus Thornton, Jeff Green and Brandon Bass sharing the floor in the first quarter. That might be an extreme, but Stevens said before the game that he’ll put an emphasis this season on forwards who can “space the floor.”
“Having more guys that space the floor in the frontcourt is going to be important, and as a result we’ll be at times smaller,” the coach said. “But that doesn’t mean that Joel (Anthony) won’t have an impact, or Tyler won’t play just what I think he’s going to play. It just means you’ll see some lineups that we’ll try to space the floor with our forwards.”
What exactly this means for Zeller remains to be seen, but consistent performances like this certainly won’t hurt his playing time.
