The Danilo Effect and What His Absence To Start the Season Means To The Boston Celtics

A torn meniscus left knee injury will keep Danilo Gallinari sidelined for a couple of months, a blow to Boston's quest to get off to a better start than they did last season.

Danilo Gallinari’s torn meniscus injury to his left knee and subsequent absence to start the season is indeed a blow to the Boston Celtics’ quest to get off to a fast start to the season.

Boston’s run towards the NBA Finals included several hurdles along the way, with few being tougher to overcome than them playing .500 basketball for the first half of the season.

While regular season success is indeed a primary goal for Boston, this season is all about getting back to the Finals and doing so with home-court advantage - something they lacked in losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals this past season.

And as much as having a healthy Gallinari to start the season would help, it doesn't take away from the ultimate goal of this team which is to bring another championship banner to Boston which would be their first since 2008.

So what should the Celtics do with Gallinari sidelined for what’s likely to be at least a couple of months?

Based on their personnel at the moment, Celtics fans should expect to see a few more small-ball lineups than we saw last season.

For starters, Boston has an envious number of players with the talent, size, and length to play up a position or two.

This would allow them to play lineups that may look small on paper but in reality, still have enough length and defensive awareness to once again have Boson among the league’s top teams defensively.

Still, no one should be surprised if we see a bit more of Jayson Tatum playing the four (power forward) this season which would allow him to become an even more lethal scoring threat while being guarded by bigger and most likely, less athletic players.

Last season, a Celtics lineup that had Tatum at the power forward spot flanked by Marcus Smart, Dennis Schroder, Jaylen Brown, and Robert Williams III, was a plus-4.9 points per 100 possessions according to Basketball reference.com

As we saw at times last season, head coach Ime Udoka isn’t afraid to experiment with his rotations.

With Gallinari’s injury, he might not have much of a choice.

If there’s one Celtic who will benefit more than any other with Gallinari out to start the season, it’s Grant Williams.

After a so-so rookie season, Williams emerged as a legit rotation player last season. For long stretches of last season, Williams flirted with being one of the few in NBA history to go an entire season shooting at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 90 percent from the free throw line.

One of the last players to do it was Williams’ new teammate, former rookie of the year Malcolm Brogdon, who shot 50.5 percent from the floor, 42.6 percent from 3-point range, and 92.8 percent from the free throw line with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2019.

Speaking of Brogdon, having him on the roster only strengthens Boston’s ability to go small. A three-guard lineup featuring Brogdon, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart has the potential to be really good defensively, along with Tatum and either Al Horford or Robert Williams III in the frontcourt.

Other reserves such as Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet, will have increased opportunities to fill the void with Gallinari’s injury.

One of the keys to Boston’s run last season was the ability of players to make the most of unexpected opportunities to play.

For a similar run this year, they’ll have to run it back and do it again.