Joe Mazzulla has forced Kendrick Perkins to do some head-scratching in these NBA playoffs, and we’re not talking about the Celtics head coach’s polarizing timeout strategy.
Perkins, who played seven-plus seasons in Boston, has a problem with the way Mazzulla has been utilizing his personnel this postseason. If you ask the former Celtics big man, the first-year head coach isn’t making use of Boston’s most effective five.
“Joe Mazzulla has to do a better job with his lineups,” Perkins said Wednesday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” “I thought last year, Al Horford and Robert Williams on the floor together — that two-big lineup — was the best lineup that they had all season long. Why he went away from that, I don’t know. But he better get back to it.”
A double-big lineup of Williams and Horford could be effective for the Celtics, but comparing Boston’s rotations to last year is pointless. Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon wasn’t a member of the 2021-22 Celtics and Derrick White, a second-team All-Defense player, is vastly improved from a season ago. Both Brogdon and White are highly impactful two-way players, whereas Horford and Williams have a few more limitations.
But if Joel Embiid is terrorizing Boston on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center, perhaps Mazzulla will consider going double big with the Celtics’ season on the line.
