Joe Mazzulla walked off the floor after claiming the winner-take-all Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals impressed by the Boston Celtics, and rightfully so.
Boston’s 112-88 beatdown against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden helped overcome a 3-2 series deficit and propelled the organization to a fifth conference finals appearance in the last seven years. The fact the Green did so after a survive-and-advance Game 6 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and then blew the doors off the Sixers made it an impressive and resilient feat.
Mazzulla was asked after the season-saving win what he learned about the group, and he went on to laud players for taking “ownership” of the series.
“Well, I’ve been around them for three years and so I just saw it again,” Mazzulla said. “At the most critical moments, they don’t overreact, they trust each other, they stay together and they execute.
“And to me, one word to describe the series is ownership,” Mazzulla continued. “They took ownership. They took ownership of what was going well, what wasn’t. They took ownership of communication. They took ownership of game plans at times, because at the end of the day they’re the ones that are out there playing and competing and so if they ever feel that they have something they think is going to make them play hard and play together, you have to trust them and go with that. And so they do that, and that’s what they showed.”
If you asked Celtics fans for one word to describe the series, chances are responses would depend on what the team did most recently. It was a bit of a rollercoaster series as the C’s were at their best in Game 2 only to give away Game 4 and drop a pivotal Game 5 on their home floor. Asking in that moment, specifically, might have prompted a few expletives from Green Teamers.
However, in the end, the Celtics advanced past the Sixers as they set out to do. And their overall buy-in, especially in the two games when their season was on the line, impressed their first-year coach.
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