There was certainly some general disappointment after the Celtics’ 3-1 collapse to lose in round one to the 76ers, but the front office isn’t jumping to make any rash decisions. According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, “all indications are that Mazzulla will be back next season”.
And that’s the right decision.
Despite the ugly loss and frustrating collapse with Joe Mazzulla seemingly afraid to make adjustments and chase the team’s identity that worked all season, he has earned a longer leash. Mazzulla coached this team to a championship in just his second season in the NBA and will likely be named Coach of the Year this season.
He has nothing left to prove as far as a regular-season coach, but other than the title run, his playoff performances have left a lot to be desired. In his first season, in 2023, the Cs struggled to get past the 76ers in seven, before losing to the 8-seed Heat. Then last season, the Celtics fell apart, blowing two massive home leads en route to a disastrous loss to the Knicks.
Mazzulla has shown concerning playoff habits
And now, this debacle against the Sixers after it seemed like this team was primed to make another Finals run. It’s certainly not great. And we’ve now seen a concerning pattern where Joe is stubborn to a fault, riding with players who aren’t getting it done (Sam Hauser and Derrick White now join Kristaps Porzingis and Grant Williams as negative net rating kings), and failing to make in-game and game-to-game adjustments to fully take advantage of matchups.
But Mazzulla is still just 36 years old, the youngest coach in the league, even with four full seasons under his belt. He was thrust into this job under some bizarre circumstances with the sudden suspension and eventual dismissal of Ime Udoka, and did a masterful job of stepping in and learning on the fly.
He has led the team to four straight 50-win seasons and, statistically, is the winningest coach the league has ever seen. But if he can’t rise to the occasion once the playoffs begin, the Celtics will seriously have to consider a drastic change.
Still time for Mazzulla to turn this around
It’s even more baffling because learning and adapting are things Mazzulla is constantly preaching and practicing in the regular season. His process couldn’t be more sound, and I have full confidence he’ll have this team poised to win the Eastern Conference again next season.
Still, he’s definitely on notice as this team can’t afford to waste any more seasons with complete playoff duds. For now, I think it’s safe to consider this a probationary period of sorts with a big prove-it season coming up, especially if Boston goes all-in this offseason with the roster.
Hopefully, Joe has gotten the message loud and clear, and he will put these narratives to bed next year. If he’s able to make the necessary change, we should all be looking back one day on how silly this early phase of his long, Hall of Fame career ended up being.
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