Did Joe Mazzulla pour ice on his hot seat after the Boston Celtics’ gutsy Game 4 win over the Miami Heat?
The Boston Celtics tend to play well on the ropes. That’s what we’ve learned this postseason. As frontrunners, Boston is liable for uninspired, half-hearted performances. That’s why the Hawks took them to six games (and almost seven), and it’s why the Sixers were up 3-2 in the conference semis at one point.
But, what happened after the Sixers went up 3-2 with a fourth quarter lead at home in Game 6? The beast awoke. Boston ran roughshod over Philadelphia for the remaining five quarters of the second round, stealing Game 6 before absolutely owning Game 7.
The Celtics have made their life even more difficult against Miami in the conference finals, digging themselves an 0-3 hole ahead of Tuesday night’s Game 4. No team has ever come back from that deficit in NBA history. Boston is hoping to become the first.
Is Joe Mazzulla’s job safe after the Celtics’ Game 4 win?
Joe Mazzulla’s job status was put under the microscope following Boston’s embarrassing 128-102 loss in Game 3. Adrian Wojnarowski went ESPN to provide illuminating context about Mazzulla’s brief, uneven tenure as head coach.
Clearly the Celtics’ locker room misses Ime Udoka. And it’s hard not to notice the differences between last year’s team and this year’s team. Boston was the most intimidating defense in the league under Udoka. Not so much under Mazzulla.
Mazzulla is a young coach without a ton of time spent on NBA sidelines. He has the trust of Brad Stevens in the front office, but as Woj surmised, a four-game sweep to the 8-seed Miami Heat would have been difficult for Boston’s front office to justify and overlook.
Well, the Celtics didn’t get swept. Boston looked death in the face and said, “not today.” Can the Celtics do that three more games in a row with Jimmy Butler lurking in those dark and stormy waters? History tells us no, but Mazzulla’s job does feel safer now that the Celtics put up some resistance. Boston handed Mazzulla a contract extension in December; one has to imagine management is looking for reasons not to fire him with so much guaranteed money still on the table.