Ahead of the Celtics' regular-season finale, a 120-114 win against the Hawks, who turned out to be their first-round opponent, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens sang the praises of head coach Joe Mazzulla at an impromptu press conference.
"All he wants to do is learn and grow, and he's great with that. And I think that he's been a great strength for us."
Shortly after that, Stevens conveyed, "We talk every day. But I want to go back to this, Joe's a strength. He's done a really good job. I understand because he's new that the easiest thing to do is nitpick him, but he's done a really good job. If he needs me, I'm here, but I trust him. And I trust his staff. And they've all done a really good job, and I think our players would all second that."
That victory vs. Atlanta to cap the campaign gave Boston a 57-25 regular-season record, placing the first-year bench boss among elite company.
After that win on Easter Sunday, Mazzulla expressed, "I knew we wanted to be a well-balanced offensive team; wanted to really work on situational basketball, (and) wanted to get better at game management; those things I had in mind."
The league's youngest active head coach (34) added, "And then I wanted to rely (on), empower, and have the guys take as much ownership as possible because it's a very strong locker room, and it's their team, and they've been through a lot. So, those were the two biggest goals for me."
Ahead of the Celtics besting the Hawks 119-106 on Tuesday, taking a 2-0 series lead, in an appearance on the pregame show on NBC Sports Boston, team owner Wyc Grousbeck said of Mazzulla, he's "like a mini Kevin Garnett," referring to the energy the Celtics' head coach brings to the equation.
In an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand, the hosts gave Mazzulla a chance to respond to Grousbeck's complement.
"Just appreciative of Wyc's perspective. He's been around a long time, and he's seen winning basketball; he's seen winning players, and so for him to make that statement and have the trust in me and our staff, (I'm) very grateful to Wyc and the Celtics for the trust that they have in us."
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