For seven-plus minutes in the third quarter in Memphis, head coach Joe Mazzulla started experimenting. Maybe he was buying time for Boston’s back-to-back in Charlotte tomorrow. Maybe he was taking the training wheels off to see what he had with the second unit. Mor likely, it was a motivational move on a night he felt like the opposing team played harder. In a game that seesawed between convincing win to nailbiter, Mazzulla went away from his stars.
With 7:10 remaining and the Celtics up 3, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Al Horford hockey-subbed for Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown.