Mazzulla: Team willing to adjust
Although the Celtics have roared to the top of the NBA with their
25-6 start following Friday night’s 120-118 win over the Raptors at TD Garden, last season unfolded similarly. Boston opened 21-5, and while it had a strong regular-season campaign, there was a sense it never recaptured its early form, going 3620 the rest of the way.
Coach Joe Mazzulla would like to ensure that this group keeps improving in the coming months, and said it will be important for him and the team to be more willing to adjust to circumstances than they were last year.
“As long as we’re open-minded that there’s no one way to win a game and there’s no one way to win a stretch of games, and it’s going to take something different,” he said. “If we get into a playoff series against a particular matchup, we’re going to have to play differently. So I think last year being my first year, not necessarily close-minded, but ‘this is who we are, this is what we do.’ But we never had other pitches to go to, so to speak. So I think just staying open-minded to that.”
Mazzulla cited Boston’s overtime win over the Pistons Thursday in which it erased a 21-point deficit as an example. He said the team adjusted its coverages at halftime, and praised the players for embracing the sudden shift.
“Some of it is naturally building trust, building communication with the guys,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day if we want to do something, there’s got to be full trust, buy-in, communication. You’ve got to talk about your philosophy. So some of the offseason stuff was, ‘We’ve done it this way with Brad [Stevens], we’ve done it this way with Ime [Udoka], let’s kind of combine the two, and there’s just going to be times we have to do things that are different.’”
Not at full strength
The Celtics were shorthanded against the Raptors. Starters Jayson Tatum (ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (calf ) were sidelined, and Al Horford sat out to rest in the second half of a back-to-back set.
Neither Tatum nor Porzingis aggravated their previous injuries. It was more erring on the side of caution after Boston played an overtime game against Detroit a night earlier.
“I think just understanding when the time is time when you have to give something a rest, and sometimes it can do more harm than good. So kind of just understanding that, and just trusting that long mind-set, long-game mentality,” Mazzulla said.
Sam Hauser started in place of Tatum and had 9 points and nine rebounds. Luke Kornet got the call in place of Porzingis and finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocked shots.