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Celtics: Why Joe Mazzulla has strong case for NBA Coach of the Year

By Alan Nahigian

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 9: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics directs his players during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden on April 9, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 9: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics directs his players during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at TD Garden on April 9, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) /
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Now that the regular season is done, it’s time for the Boston Celtics to get to work. They play game one of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Saturday afternoon against the seventh seeded Atlanta Hawks. As the two seed, the Celtics are expected to take care of this series with ease and quickly.

While all of that is going on, the NBA has announced finalists for many of the major league awards. Malcolm Brogdon has found himself in the midst of the Sixth Man of the Year award. Jayson Tatum is just outside the top three in MVP voting. But the biggest one that I see is Joe Mazzulla being nominated for NBA Coach of the Year.

Mazzulla joins Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault as finalists for the coveted award. While Brown and Daigneault certainly have their cases to win the award, Joe Mazzulla has just as strong of a case to win the award himself.

Boston Celtics having Joe Mazzulla in a tough situation to start

We all know that the only reason Mazzulla was the head coach this season was because of the Ime Udoka situation. But for somebody that was just thrown into the role, he did a phenomenal job.

I mean think about this scenario for a second. The head coach gets suspended for the season because of a violation of team rules. Mazzulla then has to step in and take over a team that is expected to be a title contender and get back to the Finals. That isn’t easy!

But keep in mind, the former West Virginia Mountaineer ended up coaching to more wins in his first season than Udoka did last year. Not to mention he got the Celtics to be a top offensive team in the NBA! All while the Celtics had a top five NBA defense too, similar to last season.

For the hand that Mazzulla got dealt, although the team was already tremendously talented, he did a great job and got them to buy in.

Boston Celtics having a complete team under Joe Mazzulla

Like I mentioned above, the Celtics finished top five in offense and defense in the NBA. That’s the sign of a really good plan put into place by the head coach.

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We know how good the Celtics were on defense in 2021-2022. But as fans, we wondered how guys like Tatum and Jaylen Brown could flourish offensively under a different head coach. Safe to say, it was a riveting success!

The three ball, taking a lot of shots, and limited the turnovers were all a part of “Mazzulla Ball”. With 57 wins during the regular season, it seemed to have worked more often than not!

So scoring the ball at will and making stops when necessary. Seems like a winning formula to me!

The bottom line with the Boston Celtics and Joe Mazzulla

Do I think Joe Mazzulla deserves to win NBA Coach of the Year? Absolutely. Will he? Probably not.

C's, Marcus Smart 'p****d' off and ready to roll. dark. Next

If I had to bet on the award, I’d go with Mike Brown for getting the Kings to the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades. But that doesn’t discredit what the 6’2 Mazzulla did for this Celtics team this season.

Plus, there’s a bigger prize that the head coach and the entire Celtics organization want instead: the NBA title. #UnfinishedBusiness

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