The raucous environment inside the TD Garden on Sunday didn’t transfer over to the locker room of the Boston Celtics after they walked off the parquet floor with a critical Game 7 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Sure, it was a celebratory setting as the Celtics congratulated one another on the lopsided 112-88 victory and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat, but it wasn’t a party atmosphere.
And with the NBA peeling back the curtain, basketball fans can see the measured speech Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla gave his team following the win as he harped upon his players learning from the moments they faced against the 76ers.
“As I’ve said before, every game, every series is going to tell us something that we need to learn,” Mazzulla said. “And this was a tough (expletive). We learned a lot about ourselves. So, we got to take that into the next one. I appreciate just watching you guys grind and battle as a team. That’s Celtic basketball right there. We stay together, we out-tough people. Good and bad we just move forward together and that’s all you guys. I appreciate that.”
Mazzulla wasn’t always that collected during Game 7 against the 76ers. The first-year coach got heated with officials after a foul call on Derrick White while James Harden was in the act of shooting early in the second quarter.
Seeing that passion out of Mazzulla and this even-keeled approach should ease Celtics fans, though. Mazzulla certainly knows there was a reason for the Celtics to be proud of their win, but there’s more left for his team to accomplish.
