Newest Boston Celtics big man Nikola Vucevic has played in the postseason before, but never as a team seen as a contender heading into the playoffs. Starting his career with the Philadelphia 76ers of all teams, Vooch now faces his rookie season ball club in the first round of the 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs, a team he whet his 16-game whistle vs. Boston in 2012 during the last era of Celtics contention, appearing in just one contest.
Since then, he’s also played for the Orlando Magic in a pair of first-round series in 2019 and 2020, and another with the Chicago Bulls in 2022. “We didn’t play too many, unfortunately, playoffs games,” said the Montenegrin big man after the Celtics’ 108-100 road win vs. the Sixers in Game 3 of their 2026 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs series. “But the ones we played, the intensity, the stakes are much higher and it helps bring your game up to a higher level, especially the physicality, and I felt like tonight was a pretty (good) example of that.”
“(It) wasn’t a perfect game, a lot of back and forth … ,” he added. “Mistakes here and there, which happen, but we found a way.”
“And it was definitely a physical game, especially for us today battling with (Andre) Drummond and (Adem) Bona (…),” said Vucevic. “But yeah, it’s just tough.”
“It’s fun to be part of these, especially playing for – you want to play in the playoffs, you want to, hope you make a deep run, have these big games, so it’s the best part of being a professional athlete.”
Listen to “Havlicek Stole the Pod” on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Nikola Vucevic has played in the postseason, but never as a contender