Post-Ups

Taylor Snow

BOSTON – Less than a year ago, Joe Mazzulla and Will Hardy were serving as assistant coaches on the same bench, both doing their part in helping to lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals.

Tonight, those two friends will be facing off against each other for the first time at TD Garden, now in elevated roles – Mazzulla as the head coach for the Boston Celtics and Hardy as the head coach for the Utah Jazz.

It’ll mark the second time the pair have faced off in the past two weeks, after the C’s lost a 118-117 nailbiter in Salt Lake City on March 18. And they’re both looking forward to matchup No. 2.

“I enjoy seeing him down there,” Hardy said of coaching on the opposite side of the court as Mazzulla. “This business is hard, and these jobs are hard to get and we’re all very lucky to have them. So to be able to have opportunities to coach against friends or mentors or anything like that is always super cool. I try not to take those moments for granted. You’re locked into the game, and you want to win, and I want to beat them, and I know Joe wants to beat us. But when you separate from that a little bit, it is cool to see him having the success that he’s having and them having the success they’re having. I look forward to going against them again tonight.”

Mazzulla said that he learned a lot from coaching alongside Hardy last year and emphasized how much Hardy played a role in uniting the entire team.

“He’s a really smart basketball mind, and it good for me to be able to watch how he navigated being an associate head coach, how he served Ime (Udoka), how he brought the staff together, how he organized everything, how he handles the players,” said Mazzulla. “I learned a lot from him, just how he put his mark on our organization, especially in such a short period of time.”

Hardy is impressed with how Mazzulla has helped Boston maintain its level of success from last season despite all of the coaching changes. And as someone who knows this Celtics group well, Hardy believes they have what it takes to go just as far as last season or farther.

“This team, when I watch them play, they have everything they need to make a deep run,” said Hardy, who at age 35 is the second-youngest coach in the NBA after Mazzulla (34). “Joe’s a great coach. Those guys all believe in him, and they all believe in each other. I know they’re a tight-knit group. They’ve had injuries and stuff this year as well, which any team goes through over the course of a season. But I think with some good health late, they’re as dangerous as anybody.”

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Pregame Post-Ups: Former C’s Assistants Set to Face Off as Opposing Head Coaches

Marc D'Amico

Time for an update on the Hospital Celtics! Fortunately, this time around, the injury list has been shortened.

One night after playing without Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford, the C’s are scheduled to have three of the four back in the lineup tonight against Detroit. Tatum returns from a one-game absence due to illness, and Horford is back after missing a game with right knee swelling. Smart’s story, meanwhile, has a bit more attached to it.

Smart missed the last 11 games, dating back to Jan. 23, with a sprained right ankle. He has been rehabbing ever since, with momentum building toward his return after the All-Star break. However, he and the Celtics decided today to make it official that he can and will return tonight.

“He checked all the boxes,” Joe Mazzulla said. “He worked hard to get back, got his range of motion back, the swelling is down, the pain has decreased. He’s very confident to play.”

That’s great news for the Celtics, who went just 6-5 without the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

An update on reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Derrick White was also offered up by Boston’s interim head coach. White was experiencing right ear pain following last night’s defeat in Milwaukee and his availability for tonight was in question. Mazzulla, however, announced pregame that the do-it-all guard is available as he deals with an eardrum issue.

“He has a hole in his eardrum,” Mazzulla revealed. “So he’s managing that, but he was cleared by the specialist and he’s good and he’s ready to play.”

With Tatum, Horford and Smart back, and White’s continued availability, the only players who Boston will definitely be missing are Brown (facial fracture), Robert Williams (left ankle soreness), and newcomer Mike Muscala (right ankle injury management).

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Pregame Post-Ups: Important Injury Updates

Eight games remain on the schedule for the Boston Celtics before they head into the NBA All-Star break. Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla knows exactly what his team needs to do in order to carry momentum into the weeklong break.

“Just continuing to do what we’ve been doing,” Mazzulla said of a Celtics team that has logged a league-best 36 wins. “I think our guys have done a great job of consistently doing what we’re doing on both ends of the floor, so it’s important to remain there. The effort’s gotta stay there. The physicality’s gotta stay there.”

If it does, Boston should be able to deposit another victory in its win column tonight. After all, it is taking on a Brooklyn Nets team that will be missing two of its top three players in Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons, and an elite bench scorer T.J. Warren. The Celtics have the clear advantage in talent, especially with the return of starting center Robert Williams, and will be seeking their second consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak.

Since breaking that streak with a victory over Los Angeles on Saturday night, Boston enjoyed three days off prior to tonight’s contest. The C’s used the first two days to rest up, before returning to the practice court for the first time in two weeks to sharpen the skills Mazzulla mentioned above.

“There’s always areas on both sides of the ball where you can get better,” said Mazzulla, “and so yesterday we were able to highlight one area on each side of the ball that’s important to us and we’ve got to continue that (improvement).”

Boston’s ability to meet Mazzulla’s expectations not only tonight, but over the next two weeks, will determine what level of momentum it will carry into the break.

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Pregame Post-Ups: C's Target Effort, Physicality as All-Star Looms

For the second time in as many days, the Boston Celtics were missing one of their star wings.

For the second time in as many days, it did not matter one bit.

Without the services of Jaylen Brown, the Celtics still clobbered the visiting Hornets by a count of 140-105. The victory ups Boston’s record to 17-4 overall.

This was a blowout from the start, as the C’s scored the game’s first five points and led 13-4 after the first three-plus minutes of the game. That lead grew as large as 27 points during the opening frame, at 43-16.

Boston blew the game open with a ridiculous shooting quarter that featured an insane 73.9 percent shooting percentage for the entire team. The Celtics canned 10 of their 15 shots from beyond the arc during the quarter, which nearly helped Marcus Smart to log a double-double during the first period alone. He finished with 10 points and eight assists during the quarter, with six of those assists leading to 3-pointers.

This lead did nothing but grow over the final three quarters. The C’s went on to pull ahead by as many as 42 before completing yet another dominant win.

What a night by Marcus Smart, and one that was impressive from the very start.

As noted above, Smart nearly logged a double-double during the first quarter alone with his 10 points and eight assists. He finished the night with 22 points and 15 assists to help fuel a ridiculous offensive performance by the Celtics. Those 15 assists were both a game high and a new career high for Boston’s starting point guard.

This is a game that will boost Smart’s shooting splits on the season. He was red-hot all night. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year shot 8-for-11 from the field, including a remarkable 6-for-9 performance from long range.

Smart also added in two rebounds and two steals on the night, all while the Celtics outscored Charlotte by a whopping 44 points during his 30-plus minutes of action.

"I think this year, his ability to see the matchups - see the possession before it happens - and using our playbook to use the matchup to figure out what he wants to run.’"

- Joe Mazzulla on what has taken Marcus Smart's floor-general skills to a new level

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Keys to the Game: Celtics 140, Hornets 105

Jayson Tatum will miss tonight’s matchup with the Washington Wizards with a sprained left ankle. This absence comes after the star wing was listed as questionable Wednesday night due to the same issue.

Despite the lingering ankle sprain, Tatum was able to play in both Wednesday’s and Friday’s victories. During those contests, he totaled 67 points over 68 minutes of action. On Sunday, however, it was deemed that his ankle needed time to recover.

A timetable for his return is to be determined.

Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked prior to Sunday’s game if Tatum will be available tomorrow night against Charlotte. The coach was noncommittal in his response.

“I think it just depends,” he said. “We’ll collaborate on what we think’s important for him and our team in the short-term and long-term.”

Tonight’s game will be the first missed game of the season for Tatum. Up to this point, he had played in all 19 games while ranking seventh in the league in minutes per game (36.9) and sixth in the league in scoring average (30.5).

In his absence, other players are sure to be asked to take on a heavier load at the offensive end of the floor. That group begins with Jaylen Brown, who also ranks in the top 20 of the league in scoring with an average of 25.6 points per game. Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon are also likely to be asked to create more offense for Boston in Tatum’s absence.

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Pregame Post-Ups: The Latest on Tatum's Ankle

Hope you’re ready for some holiday fireworks tonight at TD Garden.

Yes, we know it’s the wrong holiday for fireworks, but they’re sure to go off tonight when the No. 1 and No. 2 offenses in the league match up at the Garden.

Boston, which owns the top offensive rating in the league at 118.8, hosts the No. 2 team, Sacramento (116.8) at 8 p.m.

“Both play with a good amount of pace. Both shoot a lot of 3s. Both have great spacing,” said Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. “So I think it’s just a matter of what we can limit.”

One of Boston’s main targets to limit tonight will be De’Aaron Fox, who, along with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, is one of the top 14 scorers in the league thus far in the season. Fox ranks 14th&nbsp;with an average of 25.4 points per game, while Tatum ranks fourth (30.6) and Brown ranks 13th&nbsp;(25.6).

What has boosted Fox’s breakout season, along with his team’s season in general, is the fact that Sacramento is playing at a very high pace. They rank fifth in the league in that category at 101.88 possessions per game. Utilizing their high level of athleticism and shooting ability amid that high pace has led to a consistent offensive punch, the likes of which few teams can match.

The C’s certainly can match Sacramento’s scoring punch, which should make for entertaining basketball tonight. Mazzulla did point out, however, that the manner in which these score their points is not the same.

“I think they get their 3s a little bit different than we do as far as their transition, and having (Domantas) Sabonis as a playmaker more than anything else,” Mazzulla said. “So we’re trying to limit how they get those, but it should be a good test for us, especially on the defensive end.”

Boston has passed the majority of its tests this season. Let’s see if it can do so again tonight during this matchup between the two highest-powered offenses in the league.

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Pregame Post-Ups: High-Powered Offenses Collide at TD Garden

There are some nights which coaches will always remember, such as their first win or their first loss. Something tells us that Joe Mazzulla will always remember tonight as the first time he prepared to face off against Luka Doncic as a head coach.

Doncic, the league’s leading scorer with an average of 33.5 points per game, marches into TD Garden having scored 31 or more points during 13 of his 15 appearances this season. He’s also averaging 9.1 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game.

Preparing for a player of Doncic’s caliber is a rare yet challenging task, and one which Mazzulla is embracing. He understands that Doncic is going to get his, but also wants the Celtics to concentrate on the details in their attempt to corral him tonight at TD Garden.

“Know what you’re willing to live with, and know what you need to take away,” Mazzulla said during his pregame press conference. “Stick with that as long as we can, and then be ready to adjust based on how the game is going.”

Mazzulla continued, adding, “We know he can get it in a lot of different ways. So just have to know that, and then know what we wanna take away.”

Surely there are a few things the C’s will attempt to take away from Doncic. The question is: Can they be successful in that pursuit?

That’s not a minimal question, either, seeing as Boston enters tonight’s game ranked just 16th&nbsp;in the NBA in defensive rating. The Celtics have had great defensive games, and they’ve also had others that were forgettable, such as Monday’s in Chicago. That being said, Mazzulla does like the direction in which the defense is heading.

“It’s coming along,” he said. “I think it’s definitely gotten a lot better.

“Overall, I like our effort. I like our intentionality to the details, for the most part, and we’ve just gotta continue to grow on that.”

Effort and intentionality will be key against arguably the game’s most impactful offensive player. Doncic is the most prolific scorer in the league, one whom the Celtics may need to contain tonight in order to get back into the win column.

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Pregame Post Ups: Mazzulla Preps for Doncic for First Time

There’s a lot of MVP talk brewing around Jayson Tatum. His interim head coach, Joe Mazzulla, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Prior to Monday’s matchup with the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder, Mazzulla was asked whether he discourages that kind of talk, or if he sees a change in Tatum this season. His answer was very telling.

“You definitely don’t discourage it,” Mazzulla said. “I think it comes down to just focusing on what he’s doing as a player, and right now, he’s committed on both ends of the floor.”

Tatum’s offense, in particular, has placed him right in the middle of the MVP conversation. He enters tonight’s game ranked third in the league in scoring average (32.3 points per game), and he’s scoring those points in an incredibly efficient manner. He ranks sixth in the league in true shooting percentage among perimeter players at 65.3 percent, which is a massive spike from his mark of 57.8 percent last season.

“He makes the right read on the offensive end,” Mazzulla continued to say of Tatum’s dominant offensive play this season. “And he figures out how defenses are guarding him and reads coverages and knows how to attack, whether it’s pick-and-roll ball handler, pick-and-roll screener, or off-ball screener. So it’s just expanding his game. It’s made him a better player, which we’re thankful for. And it’s made our team better.”

Mazzulla points to last season’s loss in the NBA Finals as the motivator behind Tatum’s excellent play. While the Celtics certainly wish they had won that series against Golden State, Tatum learned and grew from the experience of defeat on the game’s biggest stage.

“I think anytime you go through something, whether it’s good or bad, you’re gonna come out learning more on the other side,” Mazzulla commented. “Our team and him specifically has been through yet another opportunity with our trip to the Finals and coming up empty-handed. So when you have situations like that, you’re naturally going to want to learn and grow and figure out where you can get better.”

That’s exactly what Tatum has done. He’s averaging career highs in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw attempts per game, free throw percentage, and blocks per game. His team also just so happens to be 10-3 on the season.

Tatum has to be right in the thick of the MVP race, and his coach wouldn’t have it any other way.

Post‑Ups