76ers Rival Coach Offers Savage Quote Ahead of Next Season

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is embracing the Philadelphia 76ers' best shot next season.

May 14, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla talks with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) after game seven of the 2023 NBA playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images / Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Fresh off of an NBA Finals victory, the Boston Celtics know they are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. After the Philadelphia 76ers loaded up on talent through the free agency market, their path to a title would more than likely include a battle against their Atlantic Division rivals.

How does Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla feel about that? To no surprise he’s content. In fact, the young head coach embraces the situation.

“I wish we started tomorrow,” Mazzulla told Boston Sports Journal recently. “I hope it’s even ten times harder than it was last year. People are going to say the target’s on our back, but I hope it’s right in our forehead, in between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot.”

The Celtics thrived throughout the long season last year. With 64 wins and just 18 losses, they locked up the East’s top seed with ease. The team that came closest to them, the New York Knicks, finished the 2023-2024 regular season trailing by 14 games,

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Boston’s first-round battle was won against the Miami Heat within five games. Their second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers was another gentleman’s sweep. By the time they got to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were too far into a groove to be knocked off.

Although Mazzulla considered the series against the Indiana Pacers the toughest of their 2024 playoff journey, the results say otherwise. The Celtics swept the Pacers and went on to win the 2024 NBA Finals with a 4-1 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Sixers and the rest of the championship hopefuls in the East know a seven-game series against the Celtics won’t be any easier the next time around.

For the Sixers specifically, their last playoff campaign was one of the weakest of the Joel Embiid era. Since Philly landed back in postseason contention in 2018, the Sixers haven’t missed the playoffs. They made the second round all but two times. Last year, a first-round series against the New York Knicks ended the 76ers’ season in six games.

During the previous playoff run, the Sixers and the Celtics met in round two. The Sixers had an opportunity to put the series away at home in Game 6, but they dropped that matchup before losing on the road in a do-or-die battle with Mazzulla’s squad.

Fortunately for the Sixers, they enter the 2024-2025 season with some key changes made. The team’s most notable addition, Paul George, hopes to be a difference-maker for a Sixers team that hasn’t seen an Eastern Conference Finals series since the early 2000s.