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Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Boston Celtics never got over the firing of Ime Udoka, and Marcus Smart denied that report when talking to media ahead of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals agains the Miami Heat.
“No, no, regardless if Ime was here or not, we’re the ones out there playing,” Marcus Smart said, via A. Sherrod Blakely. “We gotta go out there and play. Joe does a great job of putting us in the right positions and come up with a gameplan. It’s on us. There’s only so much that any coach can do for you out there as a player, you know. As some point you just gotta look at yourself and figure it out.”
Marcus Smart, addressing report that the Celtics players had never fully gotten past not having Ime Udoka as the team’s head coach. pic.twitter.com/xPkEMKv2ls
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@ASherrodblakely) May 23, 2023
The Celtics are trailing the NBA Playoffs series with the Heat 3-0, so they need to win four in a row to survive and advance to the NBA Finals.
Adrian Wojnarowski’s report indicated that the Celtics did not receive information that led them to believe the firing of Ime Udoka was warranted.
With Joe Mazzulla taking over, he has received a lot of criticism, especially recently with the Celtics facing a 3-0 deficit against the Heat in the NBA Playoffs.
Joe Mazzulla said the deficit is on him, but it seems that his players have his back, and are taking accountability for the losses.
The Celtics were not competitive in Game 3 of the series in Miami, they will have to win Game 4 in Miami to extend the series. Game 5 would take place in Boston, if necessary.