Shulga saw some action as the C's beat the Houston Rockets.
The Boston Celtics rolled over the Houston Rockets 114-93 on Wednesday night in what our own Tom Carroll called the most complete win of the season.
It was certainly a statement for Joe Mazzulla's team, who beat up on one of the contenders in the Western Conference. At 33-18, the Celtics have now won four straight games and remain tied for second place in the Eastern Conference, a remarkable achievement for a team playing the entire season without Jayson Tatum. Boston also traded Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holliday in monumental offseason moves, but here they are.
Derrick White led the way with 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting while Payton Pritchard had 27 points off the bench. Boston won this game despite Jaylen Brown not playing because of left hamstring management. Brown is an MVP candidate. Sam Hauser didn't play either.
Fun bit of history
Rookie Max Shulga came into the game late, playing two minutes in his NBA debut. The Ukrainian native is now the 526th different player to suit up for the Celtics in their history, as noted by Keith Smith of Spotrac.
Who is Shulga?
A Kyiv, Ukraine native, he played his college basketball at Utah State and VCU. A five-year player, he averaged 10.1 ppg for his career, but he averaged 15.0 in his final season at VCU. A two-time All-Atlantic 10 selection, he was drafted No. 57 in last summer's draft by the Orlando Magic and then traded to Boston.
Also need to know
--Neemias Queta had a whopping 19 rebounds in the victory, including seven on offensive end.
--Baylor Scheierman added 10 rebounds and four assists. He also had 15 points.
--Six different C's players were in double-figures, including Luka Garza. He had 19 and six rebounds.
--Boston hit 19 threes in the victory and also shot 85 percent (17-of-20) at the foul line.
--Boston limited future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to 15 points. No Rockets player had more points than that, a credit to the Celtics defense - especially without Brown.
--New Celtics center Nikola Vucevic did not play after being acquired on Tuesday. Tom Carroll wrote about the trade fallout here.
Up next
--The Celtics will be off on Thursday and will hit the floor again on Friday night when they host the Miami Heat at TD Garden. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Miami is 27-25 on the campaign and actually leads a mediocre Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference.
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