Joe Mazzulla Reacts To Celtics Game 7 vs 76ers | May 14, 2023

After a back-and-forth first half what was the difference there breaking it open in the third quarter? Our offense and so you know defense gets you in the door you have to play it you have to be great at it you have to have effort but I felt like our spacing let us down I felt like our shot selection let us down early they got some transition opportunities and you know when they're allowed to get out in transition it's hard harder to stop them in the half court and so credit to our defense for continuing to just play regardless of our offensive outcome and then once we fix our spacing and our intentionality on offense that's kind of when it broke through. The defense on Embiid seemed to be you know throwing a bunch of different looks you're throwing you know late Tatum late Adam Horford was great on him just just overall what did you see in the defensive effort just keeping him in check? Yeah just open-minded and connectivity and so when you do something for a long time and you don't you're not faced with you know a desperation adjustments are hard to make and credit to our guys when we were down 3-2 we made an adjustment but it opened up their minds it opened up to connectivity to be able to do a bunch of different stuff whether it was doubling from different locations whether it was going small on Embiid and then switching the matchup in the middle of possession whether it was the rotations that we made and so credit to our guys for just being open-minded being connected and you can't guard those guys one way you got to do different things and so with their effort and communication we were allowed to do that. Joe, Jason started off a little bit better than last game what did you see from him coming into this game and where did you see like that where were those moments throughout the game where you kind of see the fire come out of him? Again like to me he didn't play much different in my standard the last three games because he was playing both ends of the floor he was in he was active on defense he was physical he was rebounding he was communicating and I just think when you do that game after game you'll get into a little bit of a better rhythm and so I just saw a well-balanced game to where he was competing on a defensive end and you know he was making the right play on offense and he made shots. And how have you seen him evolve over the years where he when the game isn't going to him in one way he's able to find another way to approach it like they're stopping the rim he finds another way to get around Embiid and he's able to just kind of continuously problem-solve throughout a game. I mean that's the word is he's learned how to problem-solve so he can recognize matchups coverages he can anticipate the next coverage he can see the spacing he can put guys where they are and make the right play and so that to me is the evolution of players is can they problem-solve over and over again and you know you know he's done that. Joe how much did you appreciate the fact that Jason was able to stay the course with what he went through last game and then just really do something special here in a game seven? Yeah him and the whole team and so you always come into a series with the expectation of how it's supposed to go and that's just not how the playoffs are. One game one play can change the course of a series can change the course of a couple games and so he did it personally and our team did it to where we just handled the ebbs and flows of a series never got too emotionally high or too emotionally low we had tough you know rough patches but we were able to keep you know our emotional togetherness intact which I think is important during the playoffs. How good does it feel to move on as a team to the Eastern Conference Finals? Feels good. Joe to your left aside from the obvious which is game prep look at tape and so forth what are you personally going to do over the next 12 to 24 hours personally to commemorate what happened today? I'm gonna go home and have a glass of wine and start watching film in Miami and then we'll meet as a staff tomorrow at 10. Any special people you'll be talking to on the phone text phone calls and whatnot? Just the same people that I talk to my friends on a daily basis my wife my kids my mother-in-law's here so just keep it as normal as you can. Thank you. What kind of wine Joe? What kind of wine? Italian red. Okay I like it. Did you hear any of the you know World Chatter report coming into the game on the call of disparity over the last game Doc had some comments coming into and there were looked like a few frustrating calls early did you guys hear about that at all did you just kind of tune that out? I mean I saw it yeah I don't think I honestly we both shot seven free throws in the first half so I really don't think it was that big of a deal I think because of the reports or whatever the case may be it seems louder it's like you know it's like you see the report you go out in the game they make three calls and it's like oh see yeah and that just wasn't the case I think the free throw was the same at the half and so I thought it was a well-officiated game and Al on Joel he had to do a bunch of different coverages throughout this series how did you just sort of see his defense on Joel evolve and you know drive you guys through the series? I mean Al is one of our defensive anchors him and smart for sure and so when he plays with the type of physicality to where he knows he can guard one-on-one because of the team and the people he has around him and so because of that he was able to be a little bit freer and physical and whether it was Rob whether it was smart whether it was Jalen Jason Derek Malcolm Grant whoever was in the game because of their open-mindedness and their connectivity he was allowed to just be more aggressive and so you have to guard him as a team. In the second quarter there was a foul on Harden you went out to about half-court to call a timeout and then it didn't look like you were telling you guys that you love them in that huddle. It can look a lot of different ways. What were you trying to pull out of them in that moment obviously it was a pretty pivotal one. Yeah I just build an awareness to how the game's going I think in a game like that it can be the guys are so focused on playing hard because they want to win that you lose sight of you know how the reality sometimes because they just you know our guys have such the right intention so just building an awareness like hey here's really how the game's going we got to shift it you know we got to shift the momentum we have to get it back and the guys did that. And what did you think you needed to shift at that moment? Again like our offensive intentionality and in moments like that it's easy to let your defense slip and so it's like hey we got to continue our defense and then we got to do this on the offensive end and regain the management of the game. Hey Joe the simple way to put what Jason did today is historic scored the most points ever in a game seven you mentioned earlier you saw problem-solving from him but how would you describe what we saw Jason do on the floor today? Just you know a guy that doesn't get too high or too low takes the game the way it comes and he has ultimate trust in himself and in his teammates and you know one of the biggest things I've always said is people talk about him the player but the person who he is is a reflection of how he plays and so he's very even keel he has a trust and a loyalty and a character about him and you know when you play like that and live like that I think it works out for you and so you see it in his game and I'm not surprised by it at all and you know he'll have the humility to just keep going which I think is key. And what did you learn about your team today? I mean I've been around them for three years and so I just saw it again to the standpoint of at the most critical moments they don't overreact they trust each other they stay together and they execute and to me one word to describe the series is ownership they took ownership they took ownership of what was going well what wasn't they took ownership of communication they took ownership of the you know game plans at times you know because at the end of day they're the ones that are out there playing and competing and so if they have a feel if they have something that they think is going to make them play harder and play together you have to trust them and go with that and so they do that and you know that's what they showed. Joe I'm sure everybody's been in Tatum's here over the last 48 hours telling him it's a game seven you got to be great this is what legacies are built on what have you told him in the last 48 hours how do you approach that situation where he already probably puts enough pressure on himself and then all the outside forces? I told him I loved him and I told him when the game starts don't listen to people and try to get out on a good start scoring you're not defined by scoring in my book and that's most important is don't let your identity be caught up in what others say about your identity is and who you are as a person and how well you can dominate the game in areas that are you know don't get all the attention and I thought I saw that from him tonight and when you do that you get you know moments like that and so when he plays a well-rounded game our team is different and credit to him for buying into that. He's it is a sixth year but he's 25 I mean how tough is that for him do you have to stress that to him in terms of just keeping focus and not letting everybody? No I mean he's got great people around him I don't have to stress it I just have to affirm it that's all. Joe only eight turnovers tonight and that's been kind of a theme for the Celtics team win by the turnover die by the turnover how did you manage to you know rein things in in the second half where ball control was really tight for the Celtics? Spacing when you're spaced we haven't we have you know between smart Malcolm, Derek, Jalen, Jason our guards when we're spaced we have enough skill that we can usually make the right play and credit to them they did that. Joe did you get any sense during the series or even today that Jason approached it as him against Joel you know they were the MVP chance after he hit one of the threes in the third quarter he seemed not to mind them very much did you get and and did you view that as a good thing or a bad thing if he did look at it that way? No no I didn't I thought he did and will do whatever it takes to win so again hey I'm happy for him credit to him like you said he had an historic night but tonight it's about what he did and it's about our team and about what they did as that locker rooms like I said it's one of the best locker rooms I've been a part of the theme of the series was ownership it was connectivity it was love it was togetherness and those guys did it together and that's why we have a chance. Thank you.