Throughout the last two games played by the Boston Celtics in the 2023 East finals, Joe Mazzulla has quietly improved his game management against the Miami Heat and their elite head coach Erik Spoelstra.
Mazzulla demonstrated notable improvements in how he has been handling rotation minutes to calling timeouts in the right spots of the game, pulling hurt players off the court before their injury cost the Celtics valuable possessions, and generally looked like the better coach against the very best in the modern NBA. While it is not yet clear he has what it takes to help shepherd Boston out of this round and back to the NBA Finals, it is clear that Mazzulla is a quick learner Boston ought to consider hanging onto regardless of how this season ends.
Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what the hosts of the CLNS Media “Garden Report Postgame Show” podcast had to say about Boston’s coaching in Games 4 and 5 of the ECF.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
