After watching the Celtics’ first four preseason games from the bench, Al Horford finally played his first minutes since the NBA Finals on Tuesday night.

Horford returned to the starting lineup as Boston closed out its exhibition schedule in Toronto. Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum rounded out the C’s starters against the Raptors.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla maintained throughout the preseason that Horford’s string of DNPs was the team’s way of “ramping him up” as the 38-year-old big man heads into his 18th NBA season.

“I feel good,” Horford said in a pregame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin. “Just excited to be back on the floor with the guys. I had some good days of practice, and I’m just ready to get out there and play.”

Horford will be an especially valuable player for Boston while starting center Kristaps Porzingis recovers from offseason leg surgery, which is expected to sideline him until December or later. But Mazzulla surely will want to avoid overburdening his oldest player, which will create opportunities for players like Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman and Neemias Queta.

Kornet started the first three preseason games while Horford rested, and he played well as part of Boston’s top unit. Mazzulla didn’t rule out starting Kornet and using Horford off the bench during the regular season.

Tillman has displayed improved 3-point shooting (6-for-8 across his first three preseason outings), and Queta entered Tuesday with the second-best preseason plus/minus in the NBA, behind only Pritchard.

“I’ve been really impressed just with the improvement with them,” Horford told Chin. “I think it’s probably them being a little more comfortable. Neemie defensively looks really solid, rebounding the ball very, very well. Xavier, really shooting the ball extremely well and just seems to continue to get more comfortable with everything we’re trying to do. And Luke, just high energy, finishing very well around the rim and protecting the rim for us.

“Those are the things that we need for him to do, and it’s just exciting when you see those guys really take another step. Even though it’s the preseason, you can already tell that they’ve gotten better.”

The Celtics sat their starters, plus Kornet and Tillman, in Sunday night’s home win over Toronto. The only regular who did not return to action on Tuesday was guard Jrue Holiday. Mazzulla has managed the 34-year-old Olympian’s workload this preseason, giving him fewer minutes than White, Brown and Tatum.

After returning from Toronto, the Celtics will make their final preparations for the regular season, which begins next Tuesday, Oct. 22, against the New York Knicks at TD Garden. They must have their roster set by 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 21.