Before he could enjoy winning Boston’s first round series, Joe Mazzulla had to show respect to someone he’s been appreciating since he was a kid.

After the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 118-84 to win the series in five games, Mazzulla ventured over to the local broadcast crew. Mazzulla gave one final hand to Mike Gorman, the longtime Celtics play-by-play man. Gorman is retiring after 43 years on the mic.

Boston’s series clinching game on Wednesday night officially ended Gorman’s career since the rest of the postseason will exclusively air on national networks from this point.

Mazzulla, a Rhode Island native, grew up listening to Gorman calling Celtics games before making his way to West Virginia to play for Bob Huggins at WVU.

Mazzulla and Boston will now meet the winner of the Cleveland Cavaliers-Orlando Magic series.

For a related story, Derrick White credit Mazzulla for his big playoff performance earlier in the series.

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