Celtics coach reveals strategy for NBA Finals: “It will be about…”

What Luka Doncic It is Kyrie Irving they are the duo of the moment in NBA, everybody knows. The two took the Dallas Mavericks for the long-awaited final during the 2023/24 season, where they will face the big favorite, Boston Celtics, who had the best campaign in the league, led by Jayson Tatum It is Jaylen Brown. Joe MazzullaCeltic coach, understands the difficulty of dealing with the Texan partnership.

“I think the NBA Finals is much more fascinating than just Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. There are two great teams, several other big names in addition to the stars, so it is necessary to have a fairer look at this. However, that's what people will look at, I know that. That’s what the league is about for many. If these guys play well, they will win and that's it. It’s very empty for me”commented the technician.

“As much as we talk about Irving and Doncic, their role guys are big-time players…”

– Coach Mazzulla on preparing and game planning for the Mavericks' offense

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“No one is looking at how your offense is constructed. Or for example, for how you avoid making attacking mistakes, the second chance points you score or how efficient your transition game is. In the end, everyone will look most of the time, just at the four of them. So this series will be about stopping the two guys on the other side. And one tip I can give everyone is that there is no formula for this”Mazzulla continued.

“As I said, there is no stopping them both. These guys are, above all, built to thrive in these moments. But there are certainly ways to defend both at a high level, make things difficult, disrupt things. But this is not something that an individual defender will be able to do, as many may think. It's a collective value, about how we're going to work on our game as a whole throughout the series. In the end, we have big stars and so do they, but that doesn't guarantee that you won't be in trouble. We played four games in these playoffs that were tight until the end. They did this nine times. In fact, the series against Minnesota had two or three games in which Dallas was behind on the scoreboard in the last quarter, just like us. So, everything depends on executing and keeping believing. It will be tight games until the end. We're not going to stop these guys. Ultimately, what I can say is that they will score points. It's what they do best. My point is that other than that, we have to be perfect. If we go, we will be in a great position. After all, that’s what we can control in such a balanced basketball game.”he completed.

Joe Mazzulla: Celtics and Mavericks thrive on “open mindedness.” @abc6#nba#nbaplayoffs#nbafinals#differenttherepic.twitter.com/2nUVTeh9ti

— Ian Steele (@RealianSteele6) June 4, 2024