The Boston Celtics’ personnel and roster may have changed this season, but their offensive philosophy hasn’t.
Joe Mazzulla made that abundantly clear after Sunday’s 138-107 preseason rout of the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden. The Celtics looked like their usual efficient selves from the past few years, drilling 40 percent of their 3-pointers and shooting over 52 percent from the field in a classic “Mazzulla Ball” type of performance.
During his postgame press conference, a visibly frustrated Mazzulla went on a lengthy rant when asked about the team’s offensive pace and style of play, which has gotten faster this year given the team’s younger, more athletic roster.
“I’ve answered that question 100 times. Find the two-on-one, make the right play versus the two-on-one. It’s that simple,” Mazzulla said. “Could be a three, could be a layup. Find the two-on-one. I’ve answered that for two years now.”
Joe Mazzulla gets frustrated when asked how the Celtics three-point shooting is impacted by their new fast paced style:“I’ve answered that question 100 times… I’ve said it for three years when you just keep ignoring what I said.”–@CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/N4lNvUzBog— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) October 13, 2025
Clearly irked by the question, Mazzulla continued his prolonged response.
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“I’ve answered that for three years. Why do we keep asking that? Create two-on-ones, find the two-on-one. Everyone should be able to answer that question verbatim based on my answers to that question for almost three years now,” Mazzulla said. “What’s our offensive philosophy? Create two-on-ones. What do you do when you create the two-on-one? Read it. Find it.”
Mazzulla still wasn’t finished, emphasizing that Boston’s offensive philosophy has stayed the same under him and isn’t going to change as long as he’s running the team, which will likely be for several more years after he signed a multi-year contract extension this summer.
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“I don’t understand. Why is it so hard? I said it for three years. You just keep ignoring what I said,” Mazzulla added. “Find the two-on-one. Make the right play versus the two-on-one. For however long I’m here, that will be the offensive philosophy.”
Next question.