Celtics coach Brad Stevens hinted Tuesday that Lee and Tyler Zeller would be his starters at power forward and center, respectively, to open the season, CSN New England's A. Sherrod Blakely reports. "My thought right now is we won't play more than four on

Celtics coach Brad Stevens hinted Tuesday that Lee and Tyler Zeller would be his starters at power forward and center, respectively, to open the season, CSN New England's A. Sherrod Blakely reports. "My thought right now is we won't play more than four on most nights," Stevens said. "Whoever those four may be, may depend on the night, may depend on how they're playing, may depend on who is healthy."

Analysis:

Lee and Zeller have been playing together as the starters all preseason, and Stevens has offered no sign that he plans on changing things up. However, Stevens' comments that he'd likely only use four big men in a given game suggests that there are no plans to lengthen the rotation beyond 10 players, which likely leaves Lee to assume 25-to-30 minutes on most occasions. Plus, it's a safe bet that Stevens, like last year, will experiment with lineups now through the February trade deadline. Beyond Lee and Zeller, Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynyk appear to be Stevens' preferred big men off the bench, leaving Jared Sullinger and Jonas Jerebko on the outside looking in for playing time.