Celtics ‘Weaponizing Time’ During Long Layoff Before NBA Finals

It’s unlikely that people will ever tire of trying to drive a wedge between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but if they do, they’ll realize there’s already a golden Celtics take right in front of them.

Boston has a looooong layoff before the NBA Finals.

It’ll ultimately end up being nine days between games for the C’s, who quickly dispatched the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference and await the winner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks’ series in the Western Conference.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t intend on letting that layoff negatively impact his team when they finally take the court on June 6, though.

“Anything can be good or bad for you depending upon how you use it,” Mazzulla said, per NBC Sports Boston video. “Time could be good, it could be bad. Everything goes into how you use it, how you weaponize it. We’re weaponizing our time now, and that’s it.”

If there is a positive to come out of the layoff, it’s that Kristaps Porzingis appears to be inching closer toward a return. The Celtics might not have him in Game 1, but likely will see him return at some point in the middle of the series.

The Mavericks are just one game from closing things out on their end, so a matchup could be set as soon as Thursday.