Joe Mazzulla Details What's Fueling Celtics' Growth: 'We've Had Time'

The playoffs were a turbulent ride for the Celtics last year. For as much as that's the inherent nature of the postseason, their rocky road included a Game 5 loss at TD Garden against a Hawks team missing Dejounte Murray, a home defeat at the hands of a Sixers squad playing without Joel Embiid, and falling behind 3-0 to the Heat before nearly becoming the first team in NBA history to dig out of that hole.

Boston's been far more efficient this go around. The C's haven't swept their first two injury-depleted opponents, but they're 8-2, consistently figuring out what each game calls for, and 2/2 in close-out situations.

"I think that's the real answer to what everybody asked all year about, oh, what's the difference between this year and last year ... the difference is we've had time and experiences to pull from, and we've had time to talk about those," said Joe Mazzulla while discussing his team's maturation on Friday.

"We've had time to talk about how we want to go about what our daily process is. We've had time to talk about how we want to handle situations. We've had time to talk about how we've handled past situations. So I think that's it right there. Throughout the offseason and throughout the season, we've had time to build a relationship together, to have open and honest communication about how we want to go about doing things and how you should handle different situations and experiences.

"The words that you use end up reflecting the type of group that you have or the type of group you want to emulate ... how we handle successes and failures together."

That growth and communication are crucial to the Celtics' ability to solve the challenges placed in front of them, quickly counter runs by their opponent, and it accentuates their willingness to sacrifice and embrace whatever role is required to win.

Jayson Tatum setting his teammates up for success with his screening and Jaylen Brown distributing a playoff career-high seven assists in Boston's Game 5 victory vs. the Cavaliers are prime examples of this iteration of the Celtics having a firmer grasp on how to answer the challenges presented throughout this postseason.

While many profess they're underwhelmed by Boston's lack of blowout victories against teams missing prominent players like Jimmy Butler and Donovan Mitchell for the final two tilts in the C's semifinal series against Cleveland, those individuals are glossing over growth paramount to overcoming whatever obstacles await them in their journey to break through and raise Banner 18 to the TD Garden rafters.

Further Reading

Trivializing Celtics' Success in Tatum-Brown Era a Take Not Measured Properly: 'Doing

Past Hardships Brought Out Best in Al Horford in Career Night: 'You Saw His Gift'

Simple Changes Spark Stifling Second Half Defense in Celtics' Game 4 Win vs. Cavs

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown Still Shaking Off Criticism While Growing as Leaders

Jrue Holiday Delivers 'Masterclass' in Game 3 Win vs. Cavs

Jayson Tatum Breaks Out of Scoring Slump That Never Defined Him: 'Underappreciated'

Derrick White Discusses Joining Elite Company in Game 1 Win vs. Cavaliers

Kristaps Porzingis Discusses Target Date to Rejoin Celtics' Playoff Run: 'Doing Everything I Can'