The Boston Celtics starting lineup continues to struggle when they’re on the floor together.

The main lineup of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis have only played in nine games together this season. They’ve totaled 138 minutes with a -8.9 net rating.

Replacing Porzingis with Al Horford in the same starting lineup, it’s a +21.9 net rating in 208 minutes in 14 games. It’s a slightly larger sample size, but the stats are matching what we’re seeing on the court.

During postgame on Friday, Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston asked Joe Mazzulla why the starting lineup struggles when they’re on the court together. He said he “wasn’t sure and it’s for all of us to figure it out.”

During postgame on Sunday, Mazzulla was asked again about his starting lineup playing together:

“It’s not an excuse, we have to be better, but it’s essential in a training camp form with this particular group. So when you take a look at the numbers of the expected offense vs where they’re at now to where they are, you almost have triple the possessions of time, rhythm, and trust- trust goes into it when you have talented guys. We have to continue to work towards that. So hopefully we remain healthy to where we can continue those reps those trusts, and the accountability that we have to hold each other to.”

Porzingis has only played in 15 games this season. He made his season debut on Nov. 25 against the Los Angeles Clippers. Since then, he’s missed six games and exited early in two others.

That said, Porzingis returned to the court this season a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. He’s since said that he’s trying to get back to game-shape, multiple times during his postgame interviews, and that the team is still adjusting to having him back in the lineup.

Considering the amount of time Porzingis has been out and continues to miss periodically in the season, maybe it’s time for Mazzulla to make a change to the starting lineup and have Porzingis come off the bench.

It’s worth mentioning that Porzingis came off the bench in the Finals when he was returning from injury. It worked well then, however, the situation is different. He’s not injured right now, but the disconnect is making too strong of an impact on the team’s overall success and affecting games.

The reason it would be Porzingis is because he’s the one with the inconsistent availability, which is throwing off the rhythm and patterns of the starting group who play together on a regular basis.

During postgame on CLNS Media’s The Garden Report, Noa Dalzell suggests trying something different because the starting lineup continues to struggle.

On Dec. 16, I posted a question on Twitter asking if Porzingis to be more of a necessity or an accessory for the team. It’s still valid now as it was when I posted it one month ago. If it’s true, then Porzingis should come off the bench and try to make a positive impact that way.

Porzingis coming off the bench would make a difference for the second unit and the flow of the game. Boston’s reserves have shown to be somewhat inconsistent as of late and Porzingis could change that.

It’s worth mentioning that Boston has needed a depth wing to come off the bench. Maybe if Mazzulla just adjusts his pieces on the chess board, Porzingis could be the player they need to produce off the bench while he ramps back up into game-shape.

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Photo Credit: Barry Chin, The Boston Globe, Getty Images