The Boston Celtics got a wire-to-wire win against the Detroit Pistons during the NBA Cup group stage play, and they also snapped their 13-game winning streak. It didn't come easy, as the Celtics had to dig deep into their bags and get the win, and there was nobody happier after the game than head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“To me, tonight wasn't about the execution so much as the mindset that we played with. … I thought tonight we just had to grit,” Mazzulla said via Jay Knight of The Athletic.
The Celtics were able to get big games from their stars, as Jaylen Brown finished with 33 points and Derrick White finished with 27 points, but it was the contributions from other players that impressed Mazzulla.
“It's funny, everyone looks at the trust coming from a successful night, but for me, the trust comes from the response to failure,” Mazzulla said. “When you take a look at all these guys tonight that have made winning plays, whether it was Jordan or Baylor or Amari or Josh or Hugo, the trust comes from when you mess up, how do you respond to it? And I trust them more when I see that than I do when it goes well for them.”
The Celtics have shown that they have a lot of fight in them this season, despite missing Jayson Tatum. This is a different team than in years past, but they're embracing who they are and making the most of the situation. Mazzulla seems to be the right person for the job to lead them, and they've responded as well as anybody.
This team will only get better as the season continues, and they'll learn from the mistakes that they made along the way. When you do that, you get results similar to how they were able to defeat one of the hottest teams in the league.
