Celtics Forward Makes Bold Claim About Boston’s Reserve Unit

The Boston Celtics gutted out an impressive home win over the Orlando Magic on Friday night after taking the floor without any of their rotational centers available.

That forced Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla to lean on the second unit to keep Boston’s undefeated record at home (13-0) alive amid what’s been a perfect homestand. Long story short, that worked and the Magic couldn’t keep up despite having the much stronger front court, out-rebounding Boston, 45-34. Orlando couldn’t bridge the scoring gap propelled by a 47-point boost from the Celtics bench.

To fellow reserve unit member Oshae Brissett, the production from Boston’s bench came as no surprise.

“I strongly believe that our second unit is better than a lot of teams’ first unit. I can say that confidently,” Brissett told reporters postgame, per CLNS Media video. “… I feel like all the guys from Payton (Pritchard), Sam (Hauser), Al (Horford) coming off the bench, those guys are players that can start on any team. We see how we wanna play so implementing that into the second unit with guys who really wanna be out there and show what they can do, I feel like we are one of the best benches in the league.”

Brissett, like others awaiting their opportunity on a nightly basis, answered the call and stepped up to the plate. The 25-year-old pitched in a season-high 11 points, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, helping provide a huge sigh of relief for the starting unit.

It was clear that Brissett was well-prepared for the call from Mazzulla, despite having been patient through the season’s first 23 games, for such an opportunity to contribute.

“I know what I can bring to the table and that’s energy and being excited to be out there with these guys,” Brissett explained. “Any given night I can be out there, I’m gonna do that.”

Brissett added: “I’ve always been confident in my jump shot. I don’t feel like much has changed with it so any chance I get to shoot, I just gotta shoot with confidence. That’s what Joe’s been telling me from the summertime.”

Mazzulla’s widespread confidence in Boston’s darkhorse contributors paid off swimmingly as it will need to at future points throughout the rest of the season.