In the first three in the East, the Celtics do not intend to rest
Joe Macula believes this meeting took place in ” playoff type of atmosphere “. On the floor of the Clippers, his Celtics with the huge Jaylen Brown (50 points) he did not miss this meetingagainst one of the most capable teams in the league.
Kawhi Leonard and his gang settled down in a 31-point loss. While the Californians still have a ways to go to clinch the qualifying spots, the Celtics continue their flawless start to the game.
With 22 wins, including 3 straight, and 12 losses, Boston ranks 3rd in the East, behind the Pistons and Knicks. The positioning isn’t necessarily expected, given the offseason led by managers, who had to make cuts while Jayson Tatum was slated to be sidelined for an extended period.
Despite the absence of its central element, Boston shows, as the journalist pointed out Joe Mazzulla at a press conferencebetter offensive rating this season (122.3 points per 100 possessions, 2nd in the league) than last year (119.5 points).
Become an educated basketball team
Surprised, Celtics coach? “ I didn’t think about it. I arrived at the beginning of the season saying to myself: here is the opportunity we have in terms of identity. Here’s what wins matches. This is from a marginal perspective. How long will it take us to develop an identity? To become an educated basketball team that understands the margins in the winning process? “, he asked himself.
The coach believes that he and his players are not yet ” was great at this ». « We must continue to improve. But we have shown flashes of it. So we just have to continue to keep this mindset about the process of all these little things that add up to winning on the margins “, he explains.
According to him, this authoritarian victory against the Clippers is ” perfect example » of what the Celtics are looking for. Namely, very few lost balls (6), several fouls on shots…” All these little things add up. And you have to be able to do them over and over again », claims Macula, whose team had only three more victories on the clock at the same stage last season.
2026-01-04 11:44:00
