Everyone knows that the Celtics are better when Kevin Garnett is on the floor. But Zach Lowe points out that when the big man rotation produces a lineup of both Bass and Sullinger on the court together, they have a lot of trouble on defense.
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Breaking news: Boston can't defend without Kevin Garnett on the floor. They've allowed 94.6 points per 100 possessions when KG plays and 114.2 when he sits, per NBA.com. That's about as large as the current gap between the league's best and worst defenses. The Bass-Sullinger big-man combo has been especially flammable; Boston has allowed an unthinkable 139 points per 100 possessions in 41 minutes with those two on the floor. Over their last two games, Doc Rivers has essentially eliminated that two-man combination, using Chris Wilcox as a fourth big man to break them up. If that doesn't hold, expect Boston to look aggressively in free agency (Kenyon Martin?) and the trade market for another big.
No wonder we're seeing Wilcox more often. The first time I saw Sully and Bass on the court together I thought "...well, that's ...interesting." Chalk it up to an early season experiment by Doc to try to get two guys minutes.