The Boston Celtics ran out of luck against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, falling 103-84 at home.
It was a blowout, and it wasn't pretty.
Jayson Tatum failed to overcome an ankle sprain he sustained in the first quarter, finishing the contest with 14 points on 5-13 shooting from the field as Jimmy Butler ran amok on his way to a game-high 28 points on 12-28 shooting from the field. Jaylen Brown played worse, finishing the contest with 19 points on 8-23 shooting from the field and turning the ball over a game-high eight times.
With those factors in mind, Boston may be willing to give Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla a bit more grace than a few other head coaches whose team had meltdowns in elimination games this postseason. While some are calling for Mazzulla to be replaced, signs have been pointing to that not happening.
In fact, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, “the impression… is that the Celtics and Mazzulla will be looking to elevate his bench with more assistant coaching help in the offseason. ”
Taking into account “the whirlwind fashion in which he got the main job just prior to the season following the Ime Udoka situation,” Charania ads that “Mazzulla never really got a chance to align his own coaching staff and should get a chance to do so this summer.”
Furthermore, Charania reports that Mazzulla has three years and $14 million guaranteed on his contract.
Having started his NBA career as an assistant coach with the Celtics in 2019, it'll be interesting to see who Mazzulla handpicks to join his coaching staff. He has several years of coaching experience at the college level, particularly in Division II schools.
Though this is speculative, Youngstown State head coach Jerrod Calhoun (who Mazzulla coached under at Fairmont State) could be a particularly interesting name to watch. There have also been rumors about Frank Vogel and Stephen Silas.
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