Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Seemed to Use JJ Redick Strategy on Nikola Jokic in Win vs Nuggets

Gabe Smallson | Mar 3, 2025

Jan 31, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Head coach Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics took down the mighty Denver Nuggets Sunday by a score of 110-103.

After winning 10 of their last 11, Boston had a two-game losing skid to the red-hot Detroit Pistons and followed that with a triumph over the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Sunday's win wasn't won due to efficient shooting, rather it was won in large part to their defense.

Jayson Tatum finished with 16 points on 4-15 shooting while Jaylen Brown ended the contest with 22 points on a 6-15 performance. The two stars finished with a combined 11 turnovers.

Denver's three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was held to 20 points, and Celtics Blog writer Azad Rosay shared his reasoning for why the defensive presence was so heavy.

Mazzulla appears to be using strategy from the bitter rival Los Angeles Lakers.

When asked about his thoughts on Lakers head coach JJ Reddick's defensive game plan for Jokic when the Serbian only put up 12 points on 2-7 shooting against L.A., Mazzulla shared his kudos, while also acknowledging that there is no real answer for the seven-time All-Star.

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"I don't think there's a right answer, I think that was a good game plan and they did a great job of doing that. There's different ways to go about that," said Mazzulla, "and so you use that as information to pick and choose what works what doesn't work but that was a great job by them in that game."

In both the Celtics and Lakers wins over Denver, Jokic was seen being swarmed in the paint and subsequently slowed down. Without taking anything away from the generational talent, anyone will have trouble when triple-teamed down low, no matter how many MVPs you have attained.

As much as Mazzulla was able to learn from the rivals, he and his squad will be facing off against the Lakers to renew the historic rivalry on Saturday, March 8 in Boston.

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