Playoff wins about doing things 'you don't want to do,' says Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla

When it comes to the NBA playoffs, the level of intensity in games is dialed up to 11, and that fact is not lost on Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. Speaking after the Celtics sent the Cleveland Cavaliers fishing in Game 5 of their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series, Mazzulla opened up about how he sees postseason play as distinct from the regular season.

“At the end of the day, if you want to win, you have to do whatever it takes,” he explained. “You have got to be open-minded and have the humility to understand it’s going to look different every night.”

“If you say you want to win, everybody wants to win until it’s really time to win, because then you have got to nut up and do a bunch of (expletive) that you don’t want to do,” added the Celtics coach.

“So, the guys, credit to them,” said Mazzula. “They consistently do that and we just have to keep that up.”

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