How Celtics Assess (Early) Results Of ‘Mazzulla Ball’ To Begin Title Defense

BOSTON — The formula for a Joe Mazzulla-coached Celtics team hasn’t changed much since the team has returned from successfully reaching the mountaintop as NBA champions and reshifted its focus to the 2024-25 (title-defending) campaign.

To officially begin the new year against the New York Knicks, the Celtics made a bold statement. They set a new franchise record by attempting 61 total 3-pointers — and draining 29 of them (47.5%) to come just one short of setting an NBA record. Boston continued by destroying the Washington Wizards, a second straight night in which Jayson Tatum was granted an entire fourth quarter of rest, and escaped the Detroit Pistons with their patience and resilience to complete a spotless 3-0 start.

So far, the Celtics are leading the league in 3-point attempts (51.3) and percentage (44.2%) and the sky appears to be the limit fro Mazzulla’s architected offense.

“Our shot selection is based on the coverage, the defensive coverage, and where the two-on-one is and it’s easier to recognize the two-on-one versus when teams are in other coverages,” Mazzulla said before Monday night’s matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks. “So if the two-on-one isn’t recognizable, we have to fight to take a better shot — a different type of shot. And you kind of saw a little bit of that in the Detroit game. So that’s the most important thing; making sure that we’re aware of what the coverage is and making sure we’re creating a two-on-one against that coverge.”

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Boston’s first true test of adversity — albeit very early — came from the unlikely source of the Pistons, who finished with the worst record in the NBA last season at 14-68. Jrue Holiday didn’t surpass scoring a point until the fourth quarter, the Celtics were outscored, 31-21, in the third frame and with Sam Hauser unavailable (back), the reserve until leaned heavily on Payton Pritchard, who scored 19 of the bench’s 22 points.

At first glance, a nail-bitting six-point victory over Detroit in October seems like sweep-under-the-rug off night, but Mazzulla prefers the bigger picture.

The Celtics played (slightly) beneath their standard, while also fighting through the uncomfortable and frustrating moments, but resilence is just one component of the team’s takeaways. Moving forward, Boston will continue to value the deeper learning lessons behind why every game, quarter and possesion played out the way it did and apply it for the team’s film sessions and practices at Auerbach Center.

“It really just comes down to they played a differnet type of defense to that particular half and we just have to be better against it,” Mazzulla explained. “So yeah, it gives us something to continue to work on. I think — like we always talk about — wanting to win different ways, being able to play different ways and when a team’s go to different things we have to be quick to recognize what that is and execute really well. So I think it took us — and some of that’s on me — it took us the end of the second to the middle of the third to just adjust to some of the offensive frequency, and once we did we were able to find our rhtyhm again, especially in that fourth quarter.”

Boston isn’t just on a mission to recapture the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but to improve on everything that made the Celtics a champion last season. That includes embracing adversity, adapting to the uncomfortable and finding learning lessons in whatever situation doesn’t go well. It’s a formula, that while questionable in terms of execution at times, can’t be doubted yet. Without Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics haven’t missed a beat and continue to re-establish themselves early, almost as if they were eliminated in the first round and fell short a few months ago in the playoffs.

New year, same old Mazzulla blueprint.