BOSTON — The Celtics don’t need much motivation now that they have a 1-0 lead on the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. They’re just three wins away from hanging Banner No. 18, so it’s clear the team knows the stakes.
Still, C’s coach Joe Mazzulla has tapped into his knowledge all season long to inspire his team in different ways. And according to C’s reserve forward Sam Hauser, that includes just the latest unexpected source.
“He’s got a unique approach to the game,” Hauser said. “He pulls things from soccer teams, pulls things from killer whales and how they go about finding food and prey, things like that, and he ties it into the game of basketball. And I think it’s a unique way to go about it. It’s different and cool and engaging.”
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Those who haven’t been around Mazzulla will likely do a double-take hearing killer whales mentioned in team meetings. But it’s not the first time Mazzulla has tried to use different analogies to try and inspire the Celtics.
One time during the regular season, he compared his team to “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and the many different versions of Spider-Mans in the film. That time, Mazzulla said it’s because success looks different every night, and that’s how he wanted to communicate those themes to his team. So a little unorthodox, but it certainly helps his team remember some of the themes he preaches to them.
Hauser declined to go into the specifics of how Mazzulla used killer whales to help contextualizing things for his team. But add those animals as the latest unique analogies the second-year coach has come up with for his team. C’s fans can hope that the message gets through as Boston has a chance to go up 2-0 on the series in Game 2, set for 8 p.m. Sunday at TD Garden.
“The most important thing for guys like Sam and Payton is having an understanding we would not be here without those guys,” Mazzulla said. “They have literally won games for us. And you’re not defined by scoring. That’s one of the strengths of this team top to bottom, whether it’s the starters, role guys, not one guy strives to be defined by one thing.”
