Because Joe Mazzulla has been immensely successful since taking over as the Boston Celtics head coach, it's easy to forget that he was Ime Udoka's successor following the scandal that took place just before training camp in 2022.
Many have argued that Mazzulla simply inherited a good team, but between winning the NBA's Coach of the Year and his style of play being coined as "Mazzulla Ball," it's clear Mazzulla has distinguished himself as a coach.
What many don't know is that Udoka is adapting a similar style of play for the Houston Rockets that Mazzulla is for the Celtics. It's true that the Rockets had a semi-disastrous season, but fate definitely conspired against them. With the pieces that are coming back from injury and the addition of Marcus Smart, Houston is poised to bounce back using a very familiar system Mazzulla has used in Boston.
What many forget about last season was that Houston handed Boston one of their most humiliating defeats, blowing them out at home. Boston returned the favor, despite no Jaylen Brown, but their success was built on something Houston showed them from that blowout victory early on that has become a staple of Mazzulla Ball: offensive rebounding.
And that's only one of the few aspects that should make Houston not only a force to be reckoned, but a team that play much similar to Boston.
They have one of the best offensive rebounding squads
Why was Houston so dominant over Boston in their first matchup and so lackluster in their second, despite no Brown? The answer is actually pretty simple: Steven Adams. He's not a star per se, but Adams has always been one of the NBA's very best offensive rebounders, and his presence proved the Rockets to be too much for the Celtics in that first machup.
But then he went down with a season-ending injury, allowing the Celtics to exact their revenge in Houston. Now that he's back with a clean bill of health, the Rockets will undoubtedly implement his presence on the boards to give them as many possessions as possible, like the Celtics plan to do with Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson, and Luka Garza.
They are getting their glue back
Houston suffered a devastating blow before the season even started when it came out that Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL. Like Adams, VanVleet is not a star, but losing him was like the Celtics losing Derrick White.
Without turning this into a player debate, what makes VanVleet as good as he is is his three-point shooting (always been a threat), his ability to take care of the ball (3.4 assist-to-turnover ratio), and he is surprisingly excellent on defense despite his size. Houston losing that threw their season for a loop, and Adams' injury practically destroyed all hope.
Getting all of that back gives Houston another Mazzulla Ball-esque element with his floor-spacing and his excellence at not making mistakes.
Houston now just got another disruptive defender
Remember when we mentioned Smart joining the Rockets earlier? Well, even if he's not prime Smart anymore, he was a difference-maker on the Lakers last season (Why did they not keep him?). He still is a disruptive and smart defender that forces turnovers, even if not at the rate he used to.
Not only that, but now he's paired with Amen Thompson, one of the NBA's best defenders. Houston is primed to force a lot of turnovers this season with those two along with their other plus-defenders like VanVleet, Jabari Smith Jr., and Jae'Sean Tate, among others.
Houston has a lot of plus three-point shooters, higjlighted by some guy named Kevin Durant, VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Tari Eason.
So when you think about it, Houston not only has the tools to be the perfect Mazzulla Ball roster, but one that would be elite because of it. This shows that Udoka and Mazzulla really are kindred spirits as coaches. With both their roster makeups and their strategies, don't be surprised if Boston and Houston are two of the NBA's best teams on the roster for the exact same reason.
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