How Mazzulla is challenging the media ahead of the Celtics-Mavs Finals originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
The NBA playoff series is a chess match and Joe Mazzulla is eager to make the first move.
The Boston Celtics will be back in action on Thursday after a nine-day layoff when First Game of the 2024 NBA Finals Begins at TD Garden. The Celtics and Dallas Mavericks have had enough time to prepare for each other, while the media has had enough time to dissect every angle of this series.
But when it comes to talking strategy, Mazzulla offered an important reminder to reporters on Tuesday.
As NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg and Boston Sports Journal’s John Karalis explained in a new Celtics Talk Podcast, Mazzulla was discussing the narratives of this series when he pointed to a television in the press conference room that was broadcasting NBA TV. The focus of the segment was on the Mavs’ excellent lob play and how it was “imperative” that Boston “must stop” Dallas big men Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II from catching alley-oops at the rim.
“(Mazzulla) looks at him and says, ‘See? We can do this, but there’s always – you’re giving up on this,'” Karalis told Forsberg on Celtic Conversation. “And he gave that quote in his press conference: ‘If you stop A, you’ll give up B, and if you stop B, you’ll give up C. And it’s a choice.’
“So he said, ‘Look, we’re going to stop (the Mavs’ lob game). We’re going to stop that. But then we’re going to give up something else, and you’re going to say, ‘Oh, you need to stop this and that and stuff.’
“Basically, he was saying that they’re going to stop certain things, but it’s going to open them up to other narratives, and that essentially the team has to lock down the narratives. as reporters) … to be smarter in our coverage to say, ‘They’re giving up certain things because they’re taking away the lob.'”
The Celtics and Mavs stand out offensively in several areas. That’s why they are the two teams left in the playoffs and own the two best records in the NBA as of the Feb. 8 trade deadline. So in Mazzulla’s opinion, it’s less about what the C’s need to give up and more about what they’re okay with giving up.
And Mazzulla is challenging the media to highlight the latter rather than harping on the former.
“If he’s true to his word and the Celtics take away lobs for Lively and Gafford, then he’s telling us in that moment, ‘You guys have to figure out what we’re living with by taking this away.’” Karalis added.
“So don’t write, ‘PJ Washington is killing them! They need to figure out how to stop PJ Washington.’ You have to write, ‘PJ Washington is who they’re willing to hang with because they’re taking all these lobs.’
Mazzulla’s comments are a good reminder that most defensive decisions are intentional. So if Mavs forward P.J. Washington gets several open looks in Game 1 and scores 20 points, it’s likely because the Celtics are trying to get the ball out of the hands of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, and/or protecting themselves against lobs in the paint to Gafford and Lively.
At the end of the day, the only stat that matters is a win, and it will be fascinating to see what strategies Mazzulla and Mavs coach Jason Kidd deploy to set their teams up for success.
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