Joe Mazzulla explains magic behind Celtics' persevering locker room

· Yahoo Sports

BOSTON — To the untrained eye, the Boston Celtics' 113-108 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night was extraordinary. The C's had just eight players available and couldn't advance or fall in the standings, so one would expect them to take the virtual rest day easy. Meanwhile, the Magic had nearly their whole lineup healthy and could improve their seeding, making the matchup theoretically mean a lot more to them.

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That's not how things went down at TD Garden, though. The Celtics played harder and were fueled by several guys motivated to prove themselves, even in the last game of the season. And while Boston's benchwarmers defeating the Magic's starters was stunning in some ways, it also epitomized what the Celtics had done all season long: exceed expectations.

“We said it all year, 1 through 15, whoever steps on the floor there is an expectation to put us in position with the opportunity to win," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told Celtics Wire following the regular season finale. "Stick to the process of winning. Today is no different than the other 81 games from the standpoint of we had...eight guys and the expectation is to put us in a position to win, to execute, to play hard, to play together."

On Sunday, the Celtics had four players set career-highs for scoring, including wing Baylor Scheierman (30 points), center Luka Garza (27 points), guard Ron Harper Jr. (27 points), and rookie John Tonje (13 ponts). Despite these incredible and largely unexpected performances, Mazzulla emphasized that it was nothing out of the ordinary for his hard-working squad that never quits.

"Today is no different than the other 81 times," Mazzulla said. "Regardless of who’s in, who’s out."

While some would argue that the aforementioned Celtics overachieving and helping upset the Magic perfectly encapsulates why Mazzulla should be Coach of the Year, he'd never propose that argument himself. At the end of the day, he'll always credit his players first.

"I think today is kind of the perfect example of just the locker room and the group of guys that we have," he said. "Everybody knows that if you’re on the floor, you’re expected to play a certain way to put us in a position to win, and the guys did that tonight.”

Where the Magic made careless mistakes, the Celtics played connected. Boston's starting five wasn't one that had ever been used before, yet the young, largely inexperienced group seemed more at ease than Orlando's crew.

“No matter who (Mazzulla) puts on the court, you know they're going to play hard for him and for each other," Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said prior to his team's disappointing defeat.

Although the Celtics' on-court success stems from their strong, persevering locker room identity, they also received a boost from their surroundings. Despite the fact that the C's essentially had nothing to play for on Sunday, the crowd was rocking and treating Game 82 like it was Game 7 of a playoff series.

"I thought the crowd was tremendous for us tonight...and I think they kept us in it," Mazzulla praised. "I think the great thing about our fans is, one, they're smart, they know good basketball. Two, they care about winning. They care about playing the right way."

Before the season even began, some members of that same crowd likely doubted the Celtics. Few fans and pundits thought they could overcome an extended absence from star forward Jayson Tatum. The Green Team then proceeded to go 41-21 without him healthy, but that didn't quiet all the naysayers.

The Celtics were again doubted heading into their showdown with the Magic. The stakes weren't nearly as high and the doubt was more legitimate, however, the Celtics proved for seemingly the thousandth time this season that underestimating them at any point is a bad idea.

"It just proves that we have really good players, proves that we have a system," Mazzulla said of their final victory of the regular season. "It proves that we have a locker room that cares about winning."

The time to prove their commitment to winning on the biggest stage is nearly here. The Celtics will host either the Philadelphia 76ers or, coincidentally, the Magic next Sunday for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

"I'm super excited and super proud of the effort we put out tonight," Scheierman said at the podium. "(I'm) trying to move on and get ready for, obviously, the best time of the year, which is the playoffs."

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla says Celtics' locker room identity is key to success

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