Joe Mazzulla shares key takeaway from 2022 Finals that could help Celtics this year
"What I took away was that there's nothing different that goes into winning in a regular-season than a playoff series."
Joe Mazzulla was an assistant under Ime Udoka the last time the Celtics made the Finals in 2022.
He was on the staff during the Celtics’ run through the playoffs, which included a pair of Game 7 victories over Milwaukee and Miami before Boston fell to Golden State in six games during the championship round.
On Thursday, Mazzulla was asked what he learned during that postseason that he could apply to the Celtics’ upcoming NBA Finals appearance.
“What I took away was that there’s nothing different that goes into winning in a regular-season than a playoff series,” Mazzulla said. “And there’s three or four possessions that can completely change a narrative. So, if (Aaron) Nesmith hits that corner three or if we don’t get a steal, we might not be sitting here.”
“So when you get to a certain place, everybody always ignores the ‘what-if’ possessions and they always go to all the good things that we did. And then when you lose, everybody ignores the good things that you did and talks about all the what-if things that you did. So, what separates winning and losing is obviously toughness, mind-set and execution but things also have to go your way. If Jimmy Butler hits that three two years ago, maybe we don’t go.”
Mazzulla said the few plays with the biggest impact are sometimes forgotten after a loss, and that a team has to be fortunate enough for some of those plays to go their way.
The Celtics had some fortunate moments during the prior round, including Jaylen Brown’s game-tying 3-pointer in Game 1, Jrue Holiday’s steal in Game 3, and Derrick White’s game-winner in Game 4.
Mazzulla said one of the things he liked about how Boston played with Indiana was how they let go of expectations and stayed focused.
“We played without an expectation, without a sense of entitlement,” Mazzulla said. “I think we just played with an understanding that even though we’re a good team, we have to be the harder-playing team. I think that’s important. I felt like we werent distracted by anything other than the things that impact winning, all the details and margins.
“We always talk about the regular season and the playoffs are the same and it’s no different heading into the Finals. When you get closer to achieving your goal, it’s easy to become distracted and at the end of the day, the margins will be the reason why you win. The harder playing team, all the small details that go in. I feel like we valued that. I felt we were great defensively when we needed to be and we just fought to stick together and make winning plays. So just got to fight to keep that.”
The Celtics had the best record in the NBA during the regular-season and have cruised to a 12-2 record during the postseason. They are four wins away from reaching their goal of a title. If they can keep their momentum going, their chances will be favorable.
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