Copyright bostonherald
NEW YORK — Hugo Gonzalez didn’t believe his defensive performance Friday night was one worth praising. After all, Knicks star Jalen Brunson, whom Gonzalez spent much of the game guarding, poured in a game-high 31 points as New York defeated the Celtics 105-95 at Madison Square Garden. “Well, I would say that Jalen Brunson dropped 30 points today,” Boston’s first-round draft pick said postgame, “so it’s not the day to say that I’m a great defender, I would say honestly.” Two of Gonzalez’s veteran teammates, however, had no such reservations. Nor did head coach Joe Mazzulla. All three raved about the outing Gonzalez put together as a 19-year-old rookie in his NBA debut. “He was awesome,” Sam Hauser said. “A bunch of deflections, played really hard, played great defense, rebounding the ball, ran in transition. For a rookie to step into a position like that on a big stage in Madison Square Garden, it’s pretty cool to see. We’re happy for him, and he’s going to have to continue to do that for us to find minutes and also help positively impact the team.” Gonzalez, who was a healthy DNP in Wednesday’s season-opening loss to Philadelphia, checked in midway through the first quarter and made an immediate impact. His first field-goal attempt was an off-hand, high-glass layup in traffic, and he played competitive defense on Brunson, a second-team All-Pro in each of the last two seasons. The Celtics outscored the Knicks by seven points over Gonzalez’s six first-quarter minutes. Later, Gonzalez’s infectious energy and in-your-face defense helped the Celtics climb back into the game after an ugly second quarter stuck them in a 64-44 halftime hole. Trailing by 22 points when Gonzalez checked in at the 4:39 mark of the third quarter, Boston steadily chipped away at New York’s lead, ultimately pulling to within single digits before stalling in the final minutes. “Hugo’s looking great, man,” Jaylen Brown said. “He’s playing with energy, he’s playing with fight. That’s the type of mentality we need. He’s picking up guys. I liked what I’ve seen, how he was guarding some of the other team’s best players. We need more of that. We need more of what Hugo’s got. It can’t be just from the rook.” The Celtics were drawn to Gonzalez as a draft prospect because they valued the toughness, high motor, competitiveness and team-first attitude he displayed as a teenager on a Real Madrid team that was stocked with former NBA players. As Brad Stevens put it after they selected him 28th overall: “He’s got all the intangibles of a winning basketball player.” Gonzalez showed many of those traits during his promising preseason, and he did so again Friday night. Mazzulla, who’s placing a newfound emphasis on pace and defensive pressure this season, left him in the game for nearly 15 uninterrupted minutes while the Celtics staged their ill-fated comeback. “He’s perfect for what we need,” said Hauser, who first noticed Gonzalez’s defensive intensity in NBA Summer League and witnessed it first-hand throughout training camp. Asked what he wanted Gonzalez to bring in his first NBA appearance, Mazzulla replied: “What he did.” “He’s been well-coached before he’s gotten here, obviously being a part of a great organization and having great coaches,” the Celtics coach said. “So he understands what it takes, and I think he has a clear understanding of what his role is, and it’s to defend at the highest levels and play with a level of effort on the offensive end. And he’s able to do that. There’s things he needs to clean up, obviously, but I thought he did a great job helping set that third-quarter tone with his effort and his toughness.” Gonzalez’s final stat line was unremarkable, as will likely be the case in most of his appearances. He finished with six points on 3-of-6 shooting (0-for-2 on 3-pointers), four rebounds, one assist, two steals, four fouls and no turnovers in 23 minutes, 16 of which came after halftime. But on a Celtics team lacking off-the-bench difference-makers after its offseason teardown, Gonzalez already looks like an asset. Just ask the Amazon Prime crew that called his debut. “I will say, Hugo Gonzalez, my gosh,” former Celtics forward Blake Griffin said on Friday night’s postgame show. “The kid earned himself some minutes tonight.” “I’m falling in love with Hugo Gonzalez,” NBA coach-turned-analyst Stan Van Gundy declared after one third-quarter deflection. Boston’s other reserve wings either played sparingly (six total minutes for Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh) or not at all (zero for preseason standout Josh Minott) in the loss.
