Nikola Vucevic struggled on offense in his second game back from a broken finger on Tuesday night. The big man missed nine of his ten shot attempts in a 113-102 Celtics win. However, Joe Mazzulla stuck with the big man for nearly the entire fourth quarter as Boston pulled away for a double-digit victory for their fourth straight win.

Vucevic played 10 of his 23 minutes in the final frame, helping Boston outscore Charlotte 23-15 in the period to move closer to the No. 2 seed. Mazzulla was upbeat about the progress Vucevic is making despite the lack of production.

“His pick-and-roll defense was great in the second half, and I just thought he was more physical in the paint, offensively,” Mazzulla said. “He got some tip-outs, offensive rebounds for us, scoring in the paint versus the switch. And then like I said, he’s got to get his legs underneath him. But I thought that fourth quarter run there, his pick-and-roll defense was good. He got a deflection steal. So he just felt more comfortable out there in playmaking, which comes with time with that. So we just need him to continue to get his legs underneath him, but get comfortable in those playmaking situations on both ends of the floor. And he kind of showed that in the second half.”

Vucevic has just three more regular season games left to get reps in before the first round of the playoffs kicks off next week. However, Brad Stevens is optimistic about the leaps he can make during that stretch with his comfort level and how he can help Boston overall.

“I think it’s going to be a work in progress anytime you get a guy that comes in a trade,” Stevens said. “But Vuc is a pro, and I think that he immediately recognized that he’s got to do his best to find where he can help fit and where he can help impact the team. We haven’t played a ton of teams that have switched everything, like in the first game against Miami, where he really got some post up opportunities and that type of stuff. But I do think that he can bring an element to this group that will be really valuable down the line.

“I think that it’s good that he gets at least a week here to work on it with the guys. And the other thing is, we’ve been really lucky that we haven’t been in the play-in in a while. I think we were in it the one year, my last year as a coach. That turn around, you don’t have time to work on your team as you get ready for a playoff series. Having that week in between is going to be really good.”

Vucevic is averaging 9.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in his 13 appearances with Boston. He will get a stiff test on Thursday night when facing Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson and the Knicks on the road at Madison Square Garden.

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