Speaking to the media for the first time since the night the Celtics punched their ticket to the NBA Finals, Joe Mazzulla touched on a number of topics, most notably confirming that Kristaps Porzingis has not suffered any setbacks as he works to return to the lineup from a soleus strain suffered last month.
“He’s gotten better each day, I know he’s working hard,” Mazzulla said, but didn’t offer specifics as to what kinds of on-court activities Porzingis has been engaged in. “He’s progressing well, and he’s working really hard to get back.”
Joe Mazzulla confirms Kristaps Porzingis has not suffered any setbacks in making his return:
“He’s gotten better each day, I know he’s working hard… he’s progressing well, and he’s working really hard to get back.” pic.twitter.com/fFT1Jit2dp
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) May 30, 2024
The Celtics once again find themselves playing the waiting game, not yet knowing who their next opponent will be. This is now their fourth time monitoring see the other side of the postseason bracket — first, it was seeing who would come out of the play-in, then they tuned in for a Game 7 between Orlando and Cleveland, and most recently, they awaited the results of a Game 7 between New York and Indiana to see who they’d face in the Eastern Conference Finals.
After sweeping the Pacers, they’re now awaiting their Finals opponent. Dallas is up 3-1 on Minnesota, and could close the series out tonight with a win. In that case, the Celtics would have a week to prepare for the Mavericks. If the Timberwolves win tonight, it will be another few days of waiting for Boston.
Regardless, Joe Mazzulla said the team is focused inwards while scouts prepare for both outcomes.
“Practice is all about the details and the margins,” Mazzulla said. “Making sure we get better as a team, making sure we get better defensively, offensively, making sure we understand our situational philosophies and situational execution, things that go into winning, the same things we’ve been doing all year. Regardless of who wins, we’ve got to get better, so we’ll do that tomorrow.”
Joe Mazzulla on the team’s approach to practice doesn’t change regardless of the Dallas/Minnesota outcome:
“Practice is all about the details and the margins, making sure we get better as a team.”
“Regardless of who wins, we’ve got to get better, so we’ll do that tomorrow.” pic.twitter.com/ijIkUXnfYm
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) May 30, 2024
As they prepare for the Finals, Mazzulla has liked what he’s seen from the Celtics during this playoff run, praising their mindset and approach during the first three rounds.
“We played without an expectation, without a sense of entitlement,” he said. “We just played with the understanding that even thought we’re a good team, we have to be the harder playing team.”
Joe Mazzulla has really liked the Celtics’ playoff run so far:
“We played without an expectation, without a sense of entitlement, we just played with the understanding that even thought we’re a good team, we have to be the harder playing team.” pic.twitter.com/i6vEX51tYL
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) May 30, 2024
At the same time, he acknowledged the fact that a lot of basketball is up to chance, and that all the team can do is put themselves in the best possible position to succeed.
“There’s three or four possessions that can completely change the narrative,” he said. “[Aaron] Nesmith hits that corner three [in Game 1], we don’t get a steal, we may not be sitting here.”
As they prepare for the Finals, most of the in-game load will fall on the starters. But Mazzulla stressed that each guy on the roster has to work to stay ready with the player development staff.
“They’ve gotta be ready — you never know,” he said. “We had an injury, we had to go to Oshae [Brissett] and X [Xavier Tillman], who didn’t play as much throughout some of the playoffs. Their number one job is to stay in the stables, be ready to go at any point in time. They can play one possession, five possessions.”
The Celtics had a few days off after winning Game 4 on Monday night, but will be back practicing tomorrow and Saturday, capitalizing on the extra days after taking care of business against Indiana.
“Nothing is really valuable if you let it go to waste,” Mazzulla said. “Between now and June 6th, we have to take every experience that we’ve been through and make sure we take advantage of it and and that we utilize it and put ourselves in the best position to win.”
