'We've Gotta Get Better': Celtics Focused on Building Momentum in Break Before Finals

Bobby Krivitsky | May 30, 2024

May 25, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla looks on during the second quarter of game three of the eastern conference finals against the Indiana Pacers in the 2024 NBA playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

After a turbulent playoff run last year, the Celtics have been far more efficient this postseason.

In five games, they returned the favor to the Heat for eliminating them in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals and jettisoned the Cavaliers just as quickly. Then they swept the Pacers to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

Each time Boston advanced, it waited on a series that required seven games to determine who it would face next. And before the playoffs began, the Celtics secured the NBA's top record and home court for as long as they were in the postseason well before the campaign's conclusion. That made it easier to lean into pacing players down the final stretch.

They've impressively fine-tuned the approach, including balancing a recharge with not letting go of the rope mentally, necessary to stay sharp so they're at their best when the bell rings and each round begins.

Now, that matters more than ever.

"[Those experiences] are only valuable if you use them to your advantage in the next opportunity that you have," said Joe Mazzulla on Thursday at the Auerbach Center.

"Nothing is really valuable if you let it go to waste. So between now and June 6, we have to take every experience that we've been through, and we're going to make sure we take advantage of it and that we utilize it to put ourselves in the best position to win."

Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Boston's bench boss consistently preaches embracing the positive and negative possibilities each situation presents without allowing either side to get the best of one. That's helped his team to relish the moments that come with the most pressure, a mindset serving the Celtics while averaging the most points per game (13.3) and producing the highest plus-minus rating (plus-4.5) in crunch time of any team that advanced past the first round this postseason.

"Anything can be good or bad for you, depending on how you use it," expressed Mazzulla. "Time could be good, it could be bad -- everything goes into how you use it, how you weaponize it. So, we're weaponizing our time right now."

As for how the Johnston, Rhode Island native plans to go about that as Boston waits on the Mavericks and Timberwolves to wrap up the Western Conference Finals, which could end on Thursday night, a day before the Celtics' first practice in preparation for their best-of-seven with the Larry O'Brien Trophy on the line.

"Practice is all about the details and the margins, so making sure we get better as a team, making sure we get better offensively and defensively, making sure we understand our situational philosophies and situational execution, things that go into winning," conveyed Mazzulla. "The same things we've been doing all year. Those would be the points of emphasis. And so I think, regardless of who wins (the Dallas-Minnesota series), we've gotta get better."

Boston's consistently done so while maximizing its time between playoff rounds; continuing that pattern is crucial to the Celtics' completing their journey to the top of the NBA's summit.

Further Reading

Report: Celtics Center Kristaps Porzingis 'On Track' for NBA Finals Return

Al Horford Returns to NBA Finals Aiming to Add to a Legacy Already Cemented

Jaylen Brown's Evolution Propels Him to Eastern Conference Finals MVP

Crunch-Time Resolve Sends Celtics Back to NBA Finals

From Uncertain to Game 3 Hero, Jrue Holiday Propels Celtics to Finals Precipice

Jrue Holiday Starts Eastern Conference Finals with Best Game as a Celtic