Joe Mazzulla, Celtics Deploy Interesting UFC Tactic to Prepare for Adversity

Mike McDaniel | Jun 13, 2024

Jan 19, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla with forward Jayson Tatum (0) look on from the sideline as they take on the Denver Nuggets at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

When the Boston Celtics jumped out to a 91-70 lead at the start of the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, many watching believed the game was over.

The Mavericks seemed spent, and the Celtics were firing on all cylinders offensively for what seemed like the first time in the series.

Then Dallas started getting stops, the crowd got back into the game, and the Mavericks were all of a sudden delivering on the offensive end to the tune of a 20-2 run that eventually cut the Boston lead all the way down to one.

Boston closed the game with a 13-6 spurt following Luka Doncic's sixth foul with just over four minutes to play, and closed out Game 3 staring adversity square in the face - something that Celtics teams of the recent past may not have done. So how does Boston prepare for moments of intense adversity? It's an interesting approach, according to Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

"Joe [Mazzulla] does a great job of showing us clips and things from different sports," Tatum began. "He's a big UFC fan, showing us fights of people that...I don't know the terminology of UFC, but put him in a chokehold and s---. Like they're about to tap out, and to see the guy or woman relaxing because they know they're about to win and you give the other person life. Just trying to translate that to the game of basketball where the closer you are to winning, the closer they are to surviving. Basically just trying to remind us in a group that we've still got a long way to go. We still have to play the right way. We still gotta win. They're not going to quit and we should expect the best from them from here on out."

JT on how Joe Mazzulla uses UFC film to help the Celtics and motivate them to never quit pic.twitter.com/A3VQUfvHUY

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 13, 2024

The Celtics take a 3-0 series lead into Friday night's Game 4, as Boston looks to raise banner No. 18, while the Mavericks will fight to keep their season alive.