The Boston Celtics are rolling with Derrick White, Jordan Walsh, Jayson Tatum, Paul George, and Mitchell Robinson as their starting five for the Opening Day clash against the Detroit Pistons. This isn’t some last-minute decision, either, because coach Joe Mazzulla ran this exact same five-person squad in both of the team’s full-strength preseason games. And hey, it worked! They went 4-0 in preseason, crushing it with the top net rating, defensive rating, and rebounding percentage in the league. Their opponents tonight, the Pistons, are throwing out Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, and Jalen Duren to start.
Mazzulla Thinks You’re Overthinking the Starting Five
Here’s where it gets spicy. Mazzulla isn’t exactly hyping up that starting lineup. He’s actually out here saying we all care way too much about it. “In all honesty, I think people care about it too much, it lasts five minutes,” Mazzulla said pregame. “There’s still 43 minutes left in the game. end-of-quarter lineups are important, start-to-quarter lineups are important, end-of-game lineups are important. So I think it just gets overblown.” He’s basically telling us to chill.
Mazzulla explained that his playbook is loaded with different lineups for every possible situation you can imagine during a game. He’s got 10 different combinations ready to roll, whether they’re winning, losing, or desperately needing a three-pointer. He puts the same amount of thought into a closing lineup as he does the opening one. And he’s right, the starting five on opening night rarely sticks for the entire 82-game grind. “I guarantee you tonight’s won’t be the same one for 82 games,” he added.
Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard Is All In
It’s not just Mazzulla waving off the starting lineup hype. Payton Pritchard, who won Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2025, couldn’t care less about not hearing his name called at the jump ball. “To me, a starter is the amount of minutes you play,” Pritchard said at practice earlier this week. “Do you finish games? Are you playing 30-plus minutes? Then you are a starter.” He’s got that competitive fire, but it’s all about impact for him. “How you impact the game is what really matters to me. I don’t really care. This might be an ego thing, like I don’t really care to hear my name called at the beginning of the game. The first five minutes of the game really have no effect on the game.” That’s a straight-up, no-ego take from a guy who knows how to ball. It’s a stark contrast to last year’s full-strength starters, which featured Derrick White, Sam Hauser, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Neemias Queta, with Hauser starting 49 games and Jordan Walsh getting 25.
So, while we know who’s kicking things off tonight, Mazzulla and Pritchard are making it clear: the first five minutes are just the beginning. Tonight, it’s about seeing which of those “10 different lineups” Mazzulla unleashes and how the Celtics start their long season against the Pistons.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
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