Despite the crushing blow of losing Jayson Tatum for a long time, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla says he’s only thinking about the healthy Celtics after their Game 6 disappointment.
The Boston Celtics‘ reign as NBA champions came to a disappointing end on Friday night against the New York Knicks. The team was unceremoniously dumped out of the NBA playoffs in a 38-point blowout.
Jayson Tatum’s horrific Achilles injury has been talked about a lot since he went down in Game 4. Boston managed to win Game 5 without him, with Jaylen Brown dedicating the win to the injured superstar.
But Game 6 was too much for the team to handle; the Knicks had four starters in double digits as they secured the victory.
The Tatum injury will have larger long-term implications for Boston. However, head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t thinking about that right now.
Now that their season is over, the Boston Celtics will have to deal with the repercussions of Tatum‘s injury. But Mazzulla hasn’t reached that point yet.
Speaking to the press after the team’s embarrassing loss, the head coach explained that he’s focused on the guys who played.
“I haven’t really thought one second of that,” Mazzulla said about the Tatum injury. “I’m more just focused on the guys in that locker room right now.”
“Grateful for the effort and what they put through on that, and that’s really all that matters.”
When a team suffers a loss like that, it can be quite damaging to their morale. Especially when they were the defending champions.
Celtics stars had spoken about wanting to win for Tatum, but they couldn’t get it done. Regardless, they have the respect and support of their head coach.
“I told the guys in the locker room after, one of the honors of my life is being able to coach this group of guys,” Mazzulla said.
“So, you go down this list, every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior. They’ve done a lot of great things in this league. It’s an honor to be able to share a locker room with them.
The offseason will mean a lot of upheaval for the Celtics. At this moment, though, Joe Mazzulla is focused on appreciating the players who have done so much for him and the franchise.
