Tacko Fall saw a spike in minutes Friday night with Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams and Robert Williams all sidelined due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
And it certainly paid off.
Fall amassed four points, three blocks (including a massive stop on Russell Westbrook) and eight rebounds in Boston’s 116-107 win over the Washington Wizards at TD Garden. He also was a plus-13 in just over 19 minutes on the floor.
The 7-foot-5 big man delivered and certainly stepped up when a depleted Celtics roster needed him the most. And it earned Fall high praise from head coach Brad Stevens after the game.
“I thought he was great tonight,” he said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I thought he, in a lot of ways, changed the game there when he came in in the first quarter. One of the things we’re missing without those guys here is some physicality and some, obviously, rim protection. And he provided both of those things in a big way, so I thought he was terrific.”
Stevens also noted the Celtics “singled him out in the locker room” after the game.
“I couldn’t be happier for the guy,” he said. “He goes from undrafted to two-way (contract), to still on a two-way, but last year in the bubble he didn’t dress half the time because of the rule that we could only dress 13.
“All he does is smile. And he’s a great teammate, as good as I’ve been around. And he works. He’s a good one, for sure. I’m really happy for him.”
The praise didn’t stop from his coach, though.
“I thought Tacko did tremendous tonight,” rookie Payton Pritchard said on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I thought he brought great energy. He totally changed the game. They really had to make shots over him and he blocked a lot or changed their shots, and that’s big props to him. … His growth is just going to keep getting better and better.”
Boston will need more of the same from Fall for at least the next week.
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Celtics-Wizards game:
— Fall’s first-quarter minutes were the first of his career.
— Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown both had a big night for the C’s.
Tatum dropped a team-high 32 points, while Brown had 27 of his own.
— Pritchard also continued to impress with 11 points.
— Even though the Celtics are without three players, they did receive some good news regarding Kemba Walker.
The team announced Friday that the star point guard had been cleared to practice with the C’s.
Walker has been dealing with a nagging knee injury. And while Stevens didn’t confirm an exact date for the guard’s return, he did point to next Friday’s game against the Orlando Magic.
— Boston looks to extend its win streak to five when it welcomes the Miami Heat to TD Garden on Sunday.
