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Tim BontempsESPN
BOSTON – After Celtics Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla stepped into the locker room for the first time as the winning coach after Boston’s 126-117 season-opening win over Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, he gave his players praise and encouragement for an all-out performance against one of the franchise’s oldest and most bitter rivals.
Then he stopped.
“I don’t think he knew it was coming,” Jaylen Brown will then say with a smile.
The “it” Brown was referring to was the water bottle shower that he and the rest of his teammates gave their coach to celebrate his first win – shortly followed by the Celtics owner, Wyc Grousbeck, presents Mazzulla with the game ball. For a team that has pretty much gone through the past few weeks since Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was suspended for the season just days before training camp, it was a moment of extreme excitement.
“I’m grateful for the relationship we have,” Mazzulla said. “These guys have been through a lot together and they’re great players. So it’s just a matter of working together. So I appreciate their trust and purchase, but they also make a lot of good stuff and we kind of just have to find out.”
The Celtics certainly figured things out on Tuesday night, as they – quite literally – knocked the 76ers off the famous parquet floor at TD Garden. With starting center and defensive anchor Robert Williams III At least for the next few months, after the season’s knee surgery, the Celtics will be smaller and faster than most opponents – and certainly more than the 76ers, thanks to the presence of the central superstar. Joel Embiid.
So Tuesday night, Boston used that speed and agility to its advantage, something the Mazzulla and Celtics have focused on since the start of training camp. Celtics overcame the 76ers 24-2 in quick break points, making Philadelphia the star James Harden (who has 35 assists, 8 bounces, 7 eyeballs on Tuesday night) looked bad a few times, esp.
The result was a performance that saw Boston grow more than 60 percent in the last three quarters, erasing the deficit early for an all-out win over a noisy home audience on a late night of franchise honors. , great. Bill Russellwho has the number 6 retired across the NBA following his death in July.
“Pace is the virtue of this team,” said the Celtics Grant Williams speak. “We have a bunch of people who can deliver that, a bunch of people who make games for each other, and we trust everyone. We trust people to make the right decisions, read right, play. That’s right. So that’s why we keep the ball in front and we play freely. That encourages the players to be who they are and that allows a lot of freedom and opportunity. It makes people a threat.”
While everyone on the Celtics can be a threat, they were led on Tuesday – as usual – by their star wings, Jayson Tatum and Brown. Tatum finished with 35 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Brown had 35 points, three rebounds and three assists, making them the first teammate to each score 35 in an opening game. season since Hall of Famers Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain did it for Los Angeles Lakers in 1969, according to the ESPN Statistics & Information study.
Tatum said while describing his and Brown’s performance. “A lot of times we don’t necessarily call sets, and if we do, sometimes it’s random, but it’s all about making a sacrificial cut or letting someone else open or pass a hit. good to have a great shot, received is in transition. The ball is awarded in basketball and people trust us to play it right. Sometimes, the right play can be for themselves. us or to someone else, so I think it’s just in the way of tonight’s game.”
Aside from Mazzulla’s debut, the other surviving visual from the game is the dust fight – not the first in their careers – between Embiid and the Celtics defender Smart Marcus. Smart was asked to foul for protecting Embiid, who appeared to hook Smart’s arm under his arm. After Smart fell to the ground after a foul, he grabbed Embiid’s right leg as he started to walk away.
Embiid then fell to the ground on his own, before Brown rushed in to join. In the end, however, the match only resulted in personal and technical errors being called to Smart – who was not satisfied with how it turned out.
“Recovered. Play basketball. Go steal. Play basketball. Referee blows whistle, calls for error. I stop the game, my hand is still stuck there and he tries to break it. And then I is the only one who has technology?” Smart asked rhetorically.
“Everybody has seen it. I don’t need to keep talking about it. If I do that, I could be kicked out of the house, suspended for 3 games, 4 games, fined… but reality. I’m the only one who got it. guessing something was against my will. Especially defending DPOY and that’s how he was treated? It’s tough. But, like I said, it’s the I could get him to speak up, but I didn’t. And that’s the maturity we have. So we move on from it. It’s how it is. And we control what’s going on. What we can control.”
In the end, however, the shuffle between Smart and Embiid was a brief moment of frustration in what was largely a night of celebration for the Celtics – something one man witnessed, every player raved about. Mazzulla on how he has led them for the past few years and weeks since Udoka suspended for the season for violating team policy.
Brown said he’s “stiff as a nail.” Newbie Malcolm Brogdon praised his always serious manner. Smart says it’s clear that Mazzulla is “guzzling” confidence.
“He won’t get any credit for tonight, but what I like about Joe and admire about him is how honest he is that he doesn’t know everything,” Tatum said. “He wants us to help him as much as he’s helping us. It’s like we’re in a relationship, and we’re both on the same page and trying to accomplish the same thing. We’re all in this together.”
The version of the Celtics coming together on Tuesday night is one that looks more likely to repeat as champions of the Eastern Conference. But for Mazzulla, it’s the first time he and the Celtics are hoping to pull off multiple wins this season.
“It was a proud moment,” Mazzulla said. “I think it started with the Bill Russell ceremony and just talked to the team about the legacy he left on and off the court and the responsibility we take to be able to hold that and build on the legacy. own.
“I think at the end of the game, the ‘Let’s go, Celtics’ line, we caught up right from where we left off. I’m proud of the Boston fans and the city of Boston, and when they did. cheering for you guys, it means you’re doing something right.”
