The fact that the Boston Celtics lost Game 4 of the NBA Finals came as a surprise to few people.
After all, the C’s are notorious for lacking killer instinct and taking their foot off the gas. As talented as they are, they can’t seem to get past their habit of being “too cool for school” in situations like Friday night.
Also, you knew the Dallas Mavericks would come out swinging. Especially after Luca Doncic was forced to spend 48 hours listening to how horrible of a defender he is and how out-of-shape he is.
The end result was a 122-84 massacre – the third largest blowout in NBA Finals history.
The Celtics will look to make things right and clinch the title tonight in Boston. (If they don’t, things could get very, very interesting.)
Joe Mazzulla has been heavily scrutinized – and for good reason – ever since taking over the head coaching job.
Mazzulla’s heavy reliance on the three-point ball and iso-offense has driven fans absolutely crazy. (Although much of that philosophy is certainly being passed down from general manager Brad Stevens and company upstairs.)
Having said that, Mazzulla has improved this season. There’s been countless situations where he’s shined, whereas last season he would have crumbled.
He’s well-known to be quirky and downright crazy at times (in a good way, of course).
There’s no coach who gets more defensive with the media than Mazzulla. It’s all a part of the chip-on-the-shoulder attitude he carries with himself 24/7.
Considering Mazzulla’s fiery attitude, it should come as no surprise that he’s an enormous UFC fan.
As a matter of fact, his passion for UFC and MMA as a whole has played a huge part of his routine and preparation as a coach.
He often shows the team footage of fights for teaching and motivation purposes.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, a passionate MMA fan and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, has integrated his love for the sport into the team’s preparation.
βThe closer you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked,β was one of his many lessons to the team. (That was certainly true in Game 3!)
Mazzulla, who has previously trained at major MMA gyms, including sessions with Xtreme Couture coach Eric Nicksick – who trains former UFC champions Francis Ngannou and Sean Strickland – has found a way to channel his fandom into basketball strategy.
“Joe does a great job of showing us clips and things from other sports,” Jayson Tatum said.
“He’s a big UFC fan, and he’s showing us fights of people that – I don’t know the terminology of UFC – but put them in a chokehold and sh*t.”
Tatum elaborated on how these clips translate to basketball.
“Like, they’re about to tap out, and you just see the guy, or the woman, who is winning relaxing because they feel like they’re about to win, then [they] give the other person life.
“I’m just trying to translate that to the game of basketball: The closer you are to winning, the closer they are to surviving.
“[He’s] basically trying to remind us that we still got a long way to go, still have to play the right way, we still got to win, and that they’re not going to quit … We should expect the best from them from here on out.”
Before Game 3, Mazzulla shared that he had recently shown his team footage of the fight between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill at UFC 300.
In that bout, light heavyweight champion Pereira successfully defended his title by knocking out Hill moments after receiving an illegal groin strike.
“You see Pereira gets hit in the nuts [then] looks at the referee, and knocks [Jamahal Hill] out five seconds later,” Mazzulla explained.
“So, it’s the approach to what happens to you and how you handle it – the closer you are to beating someone, the closer you are to getting your ass kicked.”
Mazzulla has regularly incorporated UFC fight footage into the team’s routines, emphasizing the parallels between the two sports.
As overmatched as they seem to be, we know Doncic and the Mavs won’t be quitting.
No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Having said that, if the Celtics continue to “relax” like they did on Friday night, Dallas could very well make history.
Likely? No … But there’s a first for everything.
What are your thoughts on Mazzulla and the job he’s doing?
Does the extreme reliance on chucking up three-pointers drive you crazy?
More importantly, what’s going to happen tonight? … Will the Celtics take care of business and clinch Banner #18?
Let’s say Boston loses and we head back to Dallas for Game 6 – Could you actually see the Mavs making history at that point???