BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla reached an impressive milestone in just his second year with the Celtics on Wednesday night, crossing the 100-win threshold after Boston’s 136-86 blowout win over the Nets. It was the team’s 5th 50-point win in franchise history and second this season under Mazzulla who has his team off to the best start in franchise history since 2008 at 43-12.
Mazzulla received the game ball Wednesday night in the locker room from Jayson Tatum after the victory but earned some of his biggest praise of the night from a player who has only spent a few months with the coach. Kristaps Porzingis was outspoken about just how valuable he thinks Porzingis has been to this group.
“I think just seeing how people view him maybe from the outside a little bit, I think he’s very underrated,” Porzingis said. “People don’t appreciate who he is and how he coaches because he’s very young, you can always blame it on him and stuff like that. But he’s a very underrated coach. Very underrated and different. And yeah, think people don’t see who he really is and how he coaches and it’s easy to not give him the credit because of the talent we have, no? But he deserves a lot of credit. He does deserve a lot of credit and the rest of the coaching staff also deserves a lot of credit.”
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Mazzulla has started his career with a 100-37 overall record, a mark that currently puts him atop the NBA record books for winning percentage for coaches with 100 wins per Celtics play-by-play man Sean Grande. While his initial season was a tumultuous campaign after Ime Udoka’s suspension and dismissal, the Celtics have clearly bought into his vision even more in year two.
“Obviously, definitely a lot of growth,” Derrick White said of Mazzulla’s tenure. “When I first got here, obviously, I was with Ime, Will probably mostly, but I remember them telling me, like, you need to know anything with the defense, Joe is your guy. So like, that’s my first introduction to Joe. And then obviously, him being head coach, it’s just been, it’s been great just building that relationship with him on the court and off the court. And great guy, great coach, and I just love playing for him.”
Mazzulla was appreciative of hitting the milestone on Wednesday night but deflecting from the achievement by trying to pass on the credit to his players.
“I mean, I told the guys, I think it’s something to be proud of, something to be grateful for, and I think it’s a testament to the people you have around you,” Mazzulla said. “I think in a business where individual success is highly talked about on a nightly basis, the box scores and stuff like that, to have a group of people that you can share your success with is important. It really starts with the players and I always tell them, I can’t be who I am if they don’t let me and I appreciate that.
“That’s a gift in coaching, you can always be in a situation where you don’t have empowerment, or you don’t have guys that allow you to be yourself. It’s an important gift that the players give me, and they give it to each other. And I think that’s important for us to continue to grow. So I’m grateful for that.”
Mazzulla will have a week off to celebrate the achievement with friends and family before the Celtics return to action a week from Thursday night in Chicago.
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