The Celtics head into this year’s playoffs with the No. 1 overall seed locked up, six more wins than last year, and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
They also have a more experienced head coach. For the first time, Joe Mazzulla had a full offseason to implement his programs. He has a year under his belt instead of running into certain things in the playoffs for the first time last year.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said he’s seen plenty of growth in the second-year coach.
“I said this at the end of last year, I said at the beginning of this year, Joe did a really good job last year and then just picked right up on it this year,” Stevens said.