BOSTON — The walk through the Boston Celtics’ tunnel struck Josh Minott more powerfully Wednesday night. After doing a postgame television appearance from the parquet floor, he was the final Boston player to leave the court.
The Celtics had just racked up their first home win of the season by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 125-105. In his second straight start — the first two of his career — Minott had finished with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. He vanished out of the crowd’s sight to head for Boston’s locker room with the refreshing perspective of a young player who has spent several hungry years working toward this type of opportunity.
“I can’t even explain it, man,” said Minott, who added three steals and a block. “Like, just thanking God, thanking the fans just for the energy. My teammates, everyone here associated with Boston, just empowers me. It’s just a blessing to be here, truthfully. From the coaching staff to the training staff to the equipment managers, teammates, you know, it’s just like everyone just helps me to be the person I’m trying to be.”
So far, at least, that relationship has gone both ways. While the rest of the Celtics try to lift Minott toward his full potential, the 22-year-old has embraced the dirty work that should help everyone around him thrive, too. Over his two starts, he has energized Boston with pressure defense, reliable rebounding and high-flying dunks. His long arms and consistent hustle have helped limit the Celtics’ issues on the glass and unlock their transition attack.
Two slams in 10 seconds 😤 pic.twitter.com/YjotmKMIcw
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 30, 2025
“I mean, they’re not really asking for much,” Minott said of Boston’s coaching staff. “Just do my best to defend the other team’s best player, rebound, defend and space the floor on offense. And truthfully, after that, they see everything as a plus. I’m just trying to hone in on what they expect out of me and just help my team to continue to look the best they can.”
Not asking for much? Those are all critical contributions, especially for a Celtics team that wants to embrace a chaotic style. Even with Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely by a torn Achilles, they have several established perimeter scorers. They need players like Minott to fill in the gaps.
He has the right mentality for the job.
“We were all stars in high school, and I’d say most of us were stars in college, so it’s like just coming here, you’ve got to understand that not everybody’s going to be a star,” Minott said. “So, it’s just like, I’ve got no problem with that. I’ll go make y’all look good. Just rebound, defend, try and make the other teams’ good players not look as good. And y’all just continue to do what y’all do. So, I mean, (I am) just blessed to have a great group of guys around me. And y’all see it, man, they good. They good at basketball.”
Minott has made his teammates better so far. The Celtics outscored the New Orleans Pelicans by 42 points during his 28 minutes in Monday’s game, which was his first start, and followed that up by outscoring Cleveland by 8 points with the lengthy forward on the court.
“He’s done a good job,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Just has an understanding of what the standard is, how he has to play, compete. Just his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor, his versatility. So, (he) still gave up some plays. He’s got to get better at that. So, he’ll continue to work at it.”
Despite the mistakes Mazzulla hinted at, Minott has stated a case for steadier minutes and perhaps even a more permanent spot with the first unit. He has been on a playing-time roller coaster over the first five games of the regular season. After impressing throughout the preseason, he received a DNP-CD during the second regular-season game. Two games later, he started for the first time in the NBA. With 15 points and nine rebounds in the 122-90 win in New Orleans, Minott earned another start Wednesday, and he played a career-high 33 minutes.
The Celtics felt Minott’s impact.
“Josh has been great,” said Jaylen Brown, who led the Celtics with 30 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. “We just got to keep building on it. I’ll be talking to him: ‘Just keep building on it, keep being consistent, keep rebounding.’ All of that stuff is great. That’s going to make huge contributions to our team, so I’m going to just stay in his ear. Tonight was an excellent game for him. That’s exactly what we need. Then, on offense, he was able to get out and be aggressive a little bit, hit a couple of shots when he was open, so hopefully that builds his confidence because we’re going to need that consistently from him, and I think he can do it. I think he’s talented enough to do it. We’re just gonna keep building on it.”
The Celtics won their second straight game, and they might also be figuring out some of their other rotation details. With Minott starting, Sam Hauser has stepped back into his previous role as a sharpshooter off the bench. Luka Garza has become Neemias Queta’s primary backup at center. Mazzulla could still shake things up at any point but seems to be making more sense of his lineup puzzle.
Minott looks ready for a significant role within that mix. After he rarely saw the court over three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, his brief time with the Celtics has already been rewarding. He said the team’s 0-3 start didn’t affect anyone’s spirit.
“We’ve all been together collectively,” Minott said. “We understood that it’s been a change for a lot of people on the team, and we respect that. We’re not going to put our head down and just give up on a season because we started off 0-3. It’s just, like I said, the energy here is just amazing. The entire locker room is just bought into championship culture, and I don’t think it’s dropped off from the year they won.”
