Forsberg: This Tatum-led lineup is Celtics’ new secret weapon originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics’ starting five has been a wrecking ball this season, posting an outrageous and league-leading net rating of plus-23.7 over 417 minutes together in 32 appearances. That’s 7.4 points better than the next-best five-man unit in the league with at least 250 minutes of floor time (Minnesota, 16.3).
The trouble for the Celtics is that inconsistent sub lineups have often left Boston vulnerable. Which is why it was notable during Friday’s shellacking of the Sacramento Kings that Boston found success with a relatively new five-man pairing that could be key to weathering reserve minutes moving forward.
Celtics-Kings takeaways: C’s make it rain threes in Sacramento
Ime Udoka leaned heavy on a lineup featuring Jayson Tatum and the four players who have consistently cracked the first-year coach’s nine-man rotation. That combination of Tatum, Derrick White, Daniel Theis,…