{"id":28106,"date":"2025-01-23T09:16:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:16:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=28106"},"modified":"2025-01-23T09:16:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T09:16:26","slug":"breaking-joe-mazzulla-doesnt-want-to-hear-that-celtics-ot-win-over-clippers-should-have-been-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=28106","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Joe Mazzulla doesn\u2019t want to hear that Celtics\u2019 OT win over Clippers should have been easy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“[That\u2019s] discrediting a championship head coach and a group of guys that are really, really good.”<\/h2>\n
\"Joe
Joe Mazzulla didn’t think the Celtics’ win over the Clippers should have been easy. Katelyn Mulcahy\/Getty Images<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n

The Clippers were down four of their starters Wednesday night, presumably giving the Celtics a path to an easy victory. But, that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

Boston needed overtime to take down a shorthanded Los Angeles squad, winning 117-113. Even though the Celtics improved to 31-13 with the win, some might view the victory as added concern for a team that\u2019s gone 10-8 in its last 18 games.<\/p>\n

Coach Joe Mazzulla, however, doesn\u2019t view it that way. When the Celtics coach was asked why Wednesday\u2019s win was so difficult considering the Clippers were without four of their starters, Mazzulla scoffed at the notion that a victory should be given.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

\u201cI think the first question should be \u2014 why would we assume that it was going to be an easy game? [That\u2019s] discrediting a championship head coach and a group of guys that are really, really good,\u201d Mazzulla said. \u201cI think everybody assumed this was going to be an easy one, and I think that leads to a lack of humility and it\u2019s arrogance to think that it\u2019d be an easy one. So, the game went the way it was supposed to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Celtics were also playing shorthanded Wednesday, missing Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford. But the Clippers didn\u2019t have Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Norm Powell, and Ivica Zubac, who are their four leading scorers this season.<\/p>\n

So, unsurprisingly, Boston was a double-digit favorite. But that\u2019s been a spot where it\u2019s struggled as of late, either losing or winning by just one score in four of their last seven games as a double-digit favorite prior to Wednesday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n

Last season, Mazzulla made a similar remark when the Celtics narrowly avoided becoming the team that the Pistons defeated to end the tie for the longest losing streak in NBA history. He disagreed with the idea that the Celtics had nothing to gain from that game, saying it was \u201can opportunity to build a mindset and build toughness\u201d in the midst of their championship season.<\/p>\n

It appears Mazzulla will view Wednesday\u2019s game through a similar lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a championship head coach. Those guys are great players, been in the league a long time, a lot of them, and they\u2019ve delivered on this team and that team,\u201d Mazzulla continued about the Clippers. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t think any of that matters. I thought our guys approached the game the right way and made the necessary plays to win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s obviously details we could get better at. But I think the question would be, why did people think it was going to be an easy one?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joe Mazzulla said it would be “discrediting” the Clippers to think the Celtics should have easily won Wednesday. Read more on Boston.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Joe Mazzulla doesn\u2019t want to hear that Celtics\u2019 OT win over Clippers should have been easy - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=28106\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Joe Mazzulla doesn\u2019t want to hear that Celtics\u2019 OT win over Clippers should have been easy - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joe Mazzulla said it would be "discrediting" the Clippers to think the Celtics should have easily won Wednesday. 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