BOSTON -- Ahead of his first playoff game Saturday afternoon as head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla knows exactly what he'll stress to his team before tipping off against the Atlanta Hawks.
For Mazzulla, the message he'll relay will be all about rebounding.
It's certainly top of mind for Mazzulla and the Celtics after the Hawks secured 22 offensive rebounds in their 116-105 win over the Miami Heat in the play-in tournament to advance to the first round of the NBA playoffs. Atlanta also finished the regular season as a top-10 team in the league in offensive rebounding.
With that dominating Mazzulla's thoughts, it led to a humorous exchange with a reporter during his pregame press conference about how much he would address that before the Celtics hit the floor.
"More than the four times you just said it in that question," Mazzulla said.
Keeping the Hawks off the board will be a key for the Celtics if they look to make it a stress-free series. Hawks center Clint Capela, who grabbed 21 total rebounds against the Heat, is a handful on the glass as is Onyeka Okongwu.
And for Hawks head coach Quin Snyder, he wants his team to attack the boards even if it means giving up opportunities to the Celtics in transition.
"You get it and you score and then you don't have to play transition defense. I'm being serious actually," Snyder said. "We got some guys that it's something that we want to be able to do to gain an advantage. For me, you can't be in purgatory. You got to be back or you got to go."
Tip-off from TD Garden is set for 3:30 p.m. ET.
