South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)

Boston Celtics

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51-31, lost in NBA Finals

Overview: The Celtics ended last season in the spotlight for all the right reasons. A team seemingly stuck in the mud for multiple years recovered from a slow start to make a surprise run to the NBA Finals led by homegrown talents Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Behind it all was rookie coach Ime Udoka, who emerged as the leader of a new era for a franchise that seemed closer than ever to raising an 18th championsh­ip banner. That was before Udoka was suspended for the upcoming season after a months-long investigat­ion by a law firm found multiple violations of team policies. The man tasked with helping this team thrive is interim coach Joe Mazzulla, a Udoka assistant. A holdover from the staff of former coach Brad Stevens before he moved into his new role as president of basketball operations, Mazzulla is not only a familiar face but someone the players openly lobbied for Udoka to keep around. Quote: “We had our struggles early last season, but at our best we knew what our identity was,” Mazzulla said. “It was our buy-in from a defensive standpoint. And it was sharing the ball and moving quickly on the offensive end. So as much as we can stick to the things that we were great at last year, and then find small areas to improve along the way is the way to go.”

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