With Jrue Holiday sitting out due to an elbow sprain, the Boston Celtics ran with a double-big lineup. Jaylen Brown shifted to the 2, and Jayson Tatum slid down to the 3. Going against a San Antonio Spurs team that boasts Victor Wembanyama, throwing out some additional size in the starting unit made sense.
Both Horford and Porzingis are capable of guarding on the perimeter along with defending screening actions in multiple coverages, which is needed when trying to limit versatile big men like Wembanyama. The bigger question is, would Joe Mazzulla have still gone double-big if Holiday had been available?