BOSTON — Hugo González already started the second half over Josh Minott before Joe Mazzulla removed the Celtics’ other four starters from the second half of their comeback win over the Pacers. The Celtics cut the Pacers’ 20-point edge in half during the quarter, including a 21-11 turnaround over the eight minutes that Boston’s starters sat and watched.
“I was pissed,” Jaylen Brown said. “I was ready to play. I felt like we were mailing it in, it was only three minutes in, but we trust our coaching staff, so it was the right decision. That second group was the reason we won the game. Garza, Sam, Hugo. We won tonight, but it was because of those guys. It was a great call by Joe.”
The comeback that Brown solidified with 14 fourth quarter points capped a three-game win streak where Mazzulla benched his regular contributors in a fashion unlike any other move he’s made in his head coaching career. It followed wins over the Heat where he played Anfernee Simons, Sam Hauser and González late, who generated 10 threes, and a back-to-back win at Toronto where Brown sat and Luka Garza re-entered the rotation for the first time in nearly one month.
The wins encapsulated a growing case for Mazzulla to win coach of the year.
Mazzulla’s imprint is all over the Celtics’ 17-11 record, now winning 18-of-26 since their 0-3 start, tied for the fifth-best record over that span in the league, the third-ranked offense and the sixth-highest net rating despite a 16th-ranked defense. Whether game-to-game or in-game adjustments, the tweaks to the team’s systems on both ends to accentuate a new roster or creating a culture of sacrifice, Mazzulla set the Celtics on a 51-win pace. Many wondered if the team would make the play-in tournament given Jayson Tatum’s injury and Boston’s offseason.
“To me, I look at it as the other way, that they have an understanding that we can impact the game in different ways,” Mazzulla said. “And so it was just more about, this is what the game needs at this particular time. Let’s get it back a little bit, keep it close and then it’s their responsibility to come back to win. So I thought today’s an example of a team. You’re not always gonna be at your best, guys come in, they keep it close, they chip away at it, you come back, you guys do your job and everybody’s responsible for winning. So I think it’s more the guys, it’s a credit to them, having an understanding that anybody can impact winning at anytime.”
The Celtics benching their starters on Monday followed a similar move, pulling four seven minutes into the first quarter at Toronto. The bench, led by Simons, González, Minott and Garza, closed the frame on a 16-0 run. The starters only sat for five minutes that night and Derrick White joined the run too, Mazzulla later referring to it as the normal rotation time for the starters to exit. Earlier this season, when he removed Brown from the game for much of the first half at Brooklyn, he said he wanted to line up Brown’s second half minutes.
Brown later embraced that the decision stemmed from his poor play.
The moves marked a risk, but also a progression in Mazzulla’s career, confidence and feel for making the right decisions and adjustments during the course of games. Past seasons required that he maintain most of the hallmarks from the team’s 2022 Finals run, then trust the veterans between 2023-24. This year called for more rapid changes, game-to-game and even minute-to-minute. Mazzulla will change his substitution patterns as opponents shift their lineups, go to zone out of timeout and use players as specialists for a single possession, like Amari Williams, who secured the final stop in the team’s win at Cleveland.
“Maybe the first year was a little different, because there were so many moving parts, just a hectic year,” Payton Pritchard said. “But the three years, the championship year, even last year and this year, I feel like we’ve had good buy-in all throughout. So guys are committed and they know what it takes to win and we all gotta be on the same page.”
Mazzulla doesn’t like the term buy-in. It’s nonetheless a concept he generated in a locker room mixed with veterans and former champions alongside other players fighting for their NBA lives. Minott, Simons and Garza accepted demotions at moments, knowing their time would come back around. Brown stood in line with Mazzulla’s decision on Monday despite considering it less than ideal. Winning certainly cures all. And those wins feel like a product of his system and tweaks from the summer.
The Celtics went from a team that never fouls to one that lives with them to force turnovers. They learned that from the Thunder’s Finals run. Their willingness to utilize depth and maximum energy across short bursts of minutes drew from the Pacers’ Finals run. Those put Jordan Walsh, González and Garza in position to succeed. Boston ranks among the best and most consistent teams at crashing the offensive glass after trying to improve for years. The Celtics may not have the most talent in the league, but they have plenty of on-ball defense and crashing. Those have also counteracted their weakness on the defensive boards — where they rank last.
“(We’re) 16th in actual (defense), I think we’re fourth or fifth in expected (defense),” Mazzulla said. “And a lot of that has to come with our defensive rebounding percentage and we just gotta continue to get better. Our first shot defense is good. We gotta do a better job rebounding the basketball, and then the times where it hasn’t been as good, it’s been because of our live ball turnovers.”
The coach of the year award typically favors coaches in the top half of their conference, though Mazzulla received less credit for the Celtics’ top-flight finishes in recent years than his stacked roster. The narrative writes itself this time, no Tatum and low expectations that Boston exceeded in his image. While eight of the past 10 coaches of the year received theirs for finishing atop the league, two in Tom Thibodeau (2021) and Mike Brown (2023) drew acknowledgment for their surprise finishes.
The 2024 Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault helped put the Thunder on track to break the NBA wins record to begin this season. JB Bickerstaff’s Pistons have led the east since Nov. 7. Brown, another former winner, can argue he maximized the Knicks’ roster after Thibodeau’s firing. Mitch Johnson’s Spurs and David Adelman’s Nuggets continue to climb the west standings only 3.5-4.5 games back of Oklahoma City. Mazzulla should fall no lower than that group should the Celtics remain on their 50-win trajectory.
Mazzulla hasn’t expressed extra satisfaction in coaching an unsung group needing development and constant problem solving. It’s suited him well, and shown his strengths, attention to detail and boldness. Opposing players and coaches more often praise his impact, and his imprint and confidence show throughout every Celtics game. No moment more evident of that than when the Celtics threw the ball out of bounds to him, and he held the ball away from Pacers wing Johnny Furphy as he tried to retrieve it.
“Mentality,” Brown said. “It’s been a lot of education. Me and Joe call it Celtic University, where you’re in class and you gotta pay attention. Sometimes you gotta clap your hands, ‘wake up Josh,’ or something like that. It’s like being in school and we’re breaking down the footage and trying to really expand our knowledge for the game.”
