Blake Griffin is occupying a role on the Celtics not often seen in the NBA, but one baseball fans will be quite familiar with. That is the role of the spot starter. Baseball teams will often keep a pitcher in the bullpen that is capable of occasionally starting games in the off chance one of their normal five starters picks up a short-term injury or gets suspended for something like tossing an old man to the ground during a bench clearing brawl, for instance.
The Celtics entered the season with one center that’s geriatric in NBA terms and another that was recovering from surgery.