Heading into the 2024 NBA All-Star break, the Boston Celtics were rolling. A 50-point win over the Brooklyn Nets marked their sixth in a row. But Joe Mazzulla wasn’t ready for a break. In fact, he was vehemently against it.
“I hate breaks,” Mazzulla said. “I wish there wasn’t even halftime.”
Fast-forward a few months, and the Celtics are dealing with more breaks than ever. Five-game series against the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers were followed by a sweep of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Due to their dominance, they have to wait over a week before taking on the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
Boston’s impressive run through the playoffs has come to a screeching halt at the pinnacles of its successes. Each time they are riding the high of a series win, they have been forced to sit idly by and wait for their next opponent.
But the Celtics are doing more than just waiting.
“Anything can be good or bad for you, depending on how you use it,” Mazzulla said. “Time could be good, it could be bad. Everything goes into how you use it, how you weaponize it. So, we’re weaponizing our time right now.”
Physically, the Celtics will practice. Players will go through their normal workouts, and the coaches will help them ramp up ahead of the Finals. But there is also a crucial mental element to the break.
“Just relaxing. Getting out of the fight. Letting your emotional [and] your mental guard down. You just got to keep those things up,” Mazzulla said. “So, you create havoc in practice, you just stress the details, and you overwork them in the film room, and you just do everything you can to make sure the guys stay in the fight.”
Photo By Matt Stone/Boston Herald
Simultaneously, the players are capable of staying locked in on their own.
“I trust those guys,” said Mazzulla. “They’re professionals. They’ve done a lot. So, I don’t really have to do much because of who they are.”
In less than a week, the Celtics will be playing in the biggest games of the season. This is everything they’ve worked for all year. They are on the front doorstep. But they can’t play the games until the games arrive.
The natural anxiety of waiting has set in, and Boston is more eager now than ever to get on the court and compete.
“Just understanding the moment that we’re in. Obviously, having a couple of days or nine days off is good for your body and for everybody to get healthy, but we’re in the NBA Finals, and we’re also anxious and excited to play,” said Jayson Tatum.
“I wish it did start a little bit earlier so we can get after it. A lot of guys have been here before, so we understand the magnitude of the moment. Staying sharp, staying fresh, staying ready.”
All season, the Celtics have treated every game the same. Their simplification process has allowed them to stay in the moment, focusing solely on the task at hand. Their robot-like dominance of the regular season and playoffs depends on that mindset.
So, as the waiting game persists, the Celtics are relying on everything that has gotten them to this point. Because once the games restart, they are the same things that will help them run through the finish line.
“This [break] is a long one, but I think just the stuff that we did in the earlier rounds definitely will help us just to mentally prepare, and we kind of know what to do with the time off,” said Derrick White. “Coaches have done a good job of focusing on what we need to focus on, and we’re out there just competing and trying to have that right mindset each and every day.
“So, we talked all year about not skipping steps, and it’s no different now.”
