Hugo González played a critical role in helping the Boston Celtics defeat the Indiana Pacers on Monday, and the rookie joined some rare company in the process.
González finished with six points, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots, one assist and one steal in the 103-95 victory at TD Garden. He shot 3-of-5 from the field and was a team-best plus-21 in nearly 36 minutes, 48 seconds of work off the bench.
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The 28th pick played nearly all 24 minutes in the second half as Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla turned to the bench to help swing the game after trailing by 20 points. González made his presence felt on both ends of the court, coming up with several key plays for the group.
«It is a part of the depth that we have,» Mazzulla said. «Eighty-two games is a long time; the season is long. The standard that we have to play at, the effort that we have to play at, is hard. It is difficult. We need everybody to be able to do it, so there have been stretches of the season where guys have done that for us, and right now, it is Luka (Garza) and Hugo doing a little bit of that.»
El contenido que nos gusta.
☘️💚Casi un minuto de Hugo González en la victoria ante los Pacers.
6 puntos
11 rebotes
2 tapones
1 asistencia
1 robo‼️37 MINUTOS en pista. pic.twitter.com/8rFiuKsVTI
— NBASpain (@NBAspain) December 23, 2025
González has seen an increase in playing time in December after playing sporadically to begin the season, averaging 7.1 points and 5.6 rebounds on 37.5% shooting from 3-point range in nearly 20 minutes per game across nine appearances.
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The 19-year-old Spaniard has hauled in at least 10 rebounds in consecutive games, becoming the first Celtics rookie since Daniel Theis in January 2018 to do so. He is only the seventh rookie in team history to accomplish that feat since 2000.
González is establishing himself as a player Mazzulla can’t keep off the floor, based on his production in the second unit. He relishes the opportunity to impact games and credits his ability to stay ready as a key factor in playing extended minutes.
“I think that is just being mentally prepared,” González said. “Really physical, too, but mentally prepared of, like, you’re playing 24 minutes in a row, and you just got to try to be solid even though I’ve got some sequences that aren’t solid enough. But just try to make it solid and knowing that you got now a responsibility and you got to take accountability of that.»
This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Celtics news: Hugo González on being mentally prepared to contribute
