One of the hallmark signs of a good NBA team is a ball club that can find ways to turn structural deficiencies in the roster construction into a strength. And that is exactly what the Boston Celtics have been doing with their perceived lack of frontcourt talent after the exits of Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Luke Kornet this past offseason.
The Celtics have leaned into a scrappy, gritty, try-harder-than-you identity that has enabled them to match up with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Duren despite being considerably smaller as a team through smart play and a higher-effort style of play. That has led to wins vs. teams like the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and most recently, the New York Knicks -- all teams which were projected to be above Boston in the Eastern Conference standings this season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCeltics coach Joe Mazzulla weighed in on the Celtics going small and playing together to great success after Boston's 123-117 win over the Knicks on Tuesday (Dec. 2) night. "I think the talent stuff wasn’t as big as I thought," said Mazzulla postgame.
Nov 5, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla watches from the sideline as they take on the Washington Wizards at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images"Josh Hart got off to a great start in that game, and when something like that happens, it forces you to have to decide what you’re going to do from an adjustment standpoint, and leveraging what’s on the other side of an adjustment like that," he added.
"I thought the guys did a good job of staying poised and executing the game plan, and then Towns is going to score. So, we sent multiple guys at him, but I thought whenever we put Hugo (Gonzalez) in, he did a good job of getting underneath him ... being physical with him. You saw the depth of our team throughout some of that game. It started with Hugo and finished with Josh (Minott) and Jordan (Walsh)."
"Obviously Jaylen (Brown) was great," said the Celtics coach. "Derrick (White) and Payton (Pritchard) made some big plays. Sam (Hauser) finished it there."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Mazzulla on how Celtics turned their size into a weapon vs. Knicks
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