How Joe Mazzulla is Addressing Celtics Biggest Remaining Question Before the Playoffs

The Boston Celtics have answered every question so far in overwhelmingly positive fashion, but now there's one more that needs to be answered heading into the playoffs

Apr 3, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla calls a play in the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

There are 82 game players in the NBA, and then there are 16 game players. 

The 82 game guys are the ones who can accumulate stats over the course of a regular season, feasting on the teams who spend the grind of it focusing on themselves and what they do best rather than fully game-planning for each particular night. 

The 16 game guys are the ones who don’t feel the heat of a playoff series, who execute under the brightest lights, and can adjust to whatever is thrown at them. They are the guys who make the right plays under any circumstances, not giving into the pressure of the moment. 

The Boston Celtics have some proven 16-gamers on their team, but they also have a few guys who have yet to prove themselves to be one or the other. Heading into the playoffs, it’s one more question to answer for a team that has emphatically answered everything this season with emphatic positivity. 

Key players like Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, and Jordan Walsh have to perform well for the Celtics to keep their regular season march rolling through the playoffs. And while we on the outside wonder how these guys will perform, Joe Mazzulla is preparing them for the moment by reminding them that basketball is basketball. 

“It's the same in the fundamentals and the execution,” Mazzulla said at the team’s first postseason practice. “What's different is the intensity, obviously the stakes. When you have to execute details and be disciplined under higher amounts of duress, it requires another level of physicality and mindset that you have to get to. 

“We can't be distracted by the things that we can't control is what we're saying. You still have to rebound, you have to run back on defense. You have to defend without fouling. You have to screen. You have to know your personnel, you have to be able to execute. You've got to be able to read two-on-ones. All that stuff is no different than a pickup game. What changes is the physicality that you have to do with, but also the intensity and so that's the piece that we have to be ready to bring.”

What Mazzulla doesn’t want is for anyone to break ranks. He’s King Leonidis and his players are the 300 Spartans in a phalanx. If they stick to their principles, they will be okay. Give in to the pressure and try to do too much, and things will fall apart. 

It’s not that the playoffs aren’t different, it’s about keeping the right demeanor in the right moments and not wilting under the bright lights. 

“It's about giving the environment what it needs,” Mazzulla said. “Two guys are fighting for their life, you don't want to go calmly, go get a rebound. But if you're at the free throw line and you have to make two shots, you want to be calm. It's no different than any other game. You just have to be able to give the environment what it needs, bring the right mindset, be ready to execute, be ready to do it together.”

One of the true 16-gamers on the team is Jaylen Brown, who has led the Celtics very effectively this year. The guys going into the playoffs with expanded roles can learn more from Brown, who has been there, made mistakes, and figured out how to get to the ultimate reward. 

“Obviously it's a more intense setting, but my mentality is similar,” Brown said. “I'm very grateful to be here. You don't always get promised to be on a 50-win team heading into the playoffs, so it's been a luxury here being able to be a part of that. Being a part of a few teams that have gone into the playoffs with that type of momentum. So my mentality is first and foremost, I'm grateful and thankful. My humility is at its highest, but my mindset, my mentality is just preparation to get ready for game one.”

Brown’s approach is simple: nothing will be given to anyone in the playoffs. The team that wins 16 games is the one that takes it, and taking it requires incredible focus.

“[Humility] allows you not to take anything for granted,” Brown said. “It just allows you to not take your opponent lightly. I respect my opponent, whoever it may be. We'll find out [our opponent] tonight. And just prepare, prepare for every scenario with the most respect.”

Humility is another Mazzulla buzzword. He has learned over his time as a coach that a lack of humility gives the brain too much space for unchecked ego, and that's how players and teams get into trouble, especially higher seeds that are being praised up and down. Mazzulla believes praise is as dangerous as criticism if players allow it to permeate the locker room. Humility and the attention to detail that has led to a 56-win season is Boston’s best chance to accomplish the goal few thought was possible.

“Iit doesn't guarantee you a result. It guarantees you the opportunity to be in position to get the result,” he said after beating the Magic on Sunday. “Everybody on the floor has impacted winning, and it's no different than the playoffs. It's the fundamentals and it's the little things under higher amounts of duress, and we have to be ready to execute that.”