The Boston Celtics roster that Joe Mazzulla took over was just out of the NBA Finals. During his first season as head coach, he was probably more of a peer to the coaching staff than the team’s new leader as they helped him learn the ropes. Brad Stevens reorganized Mazzulla’s bench throughout the summer and provided him with an even wider selection of players to choose from.
The positive aspect is evident: the Celtics had a dominant regular season. With the first seed in the Eastern Conference, they ran off. They held the league’s finest record in near to their hearts. They were the NBA’s second-best defensive club and its greatest offensive team.
The drawback is a bit more complex. Mazzulla has such dominance that we seldom see him perform well as a coach. We’re aware that he frequently decides not to call a timeout in favor of letting his squad work things out on their own. How much of an influence his in-game tweaks can have is unknown. There haven’t been enough close games to compel Mazzulla to make several last-minute adjustments. For the same reason, it’s difficult to evaluate his clutch-time coaching since there are so few of these instances that there is little evidence.
I discussed Mazzulla’s coaching and what we haven’t seen from him in the first edition of The Celtics Chronicle podcast, which I started in place of The CelticsPod.
Mazzulla has proven throughout his time with the Celtics that he performs best while making modifications during a game. When he’s had time to get away, study the game film, review the data, and make some adjustments, he’s been a consistent winner. After all, in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Miami Heat. More recently, after Miami stunned them with a victory in game 2, they destroyed Erik Spoelstra’s squad in game 3 of the ongoing series.
What interests me is the contrast between making last-minute plans and changing the game during play. Is Mazzulla able to change course in an emergency? Because such tiny adjustments have the power to sway a game. And it’s precisely such modifications that set Spoelstra apart as one of the top sideline observers.
It will be during the postseason when Mazzulla’s in-game management is put to the test. Though we won’t be accustomed to it, it won’t be anything we’ve seen before either. He needs pressure testing, just as his athletes do. As we approach Game 4 of the playoffs, it’s a thought-provoking idea, especially in light of the Heat’s desire to tie the series.
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