Brad Stevens deflects Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla criticism with urgent challenge to himself

Recently, the Boston Celtics completed a disastrous 3-1 choke job in their first round playoff series vs the Philadelphia 76ers with a Game 7 loss at home. When the Celtics went up double-digits early on in Game 5, it seemed that their sights were already set on Round 2, but Boston was thoroughly outplayed from that point on, and now has a long offseason ahead of them.

Much criticism has been directed at Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who some feel has relied too heavily on three-point variance, which has allowed lesser talented teams to keep up with Boston when they aren’t hitting their shots, but recently, Celtics exec Brad Stevens defended the head coach.

“I think first of all, I know how hard that job is, and I know all that goes into it, and I know he and his staff are putting everything they can into it,” said Stevens, per Daniel Donabedian of Celtics Wire on X, formerly Twitter. “…We need to add to our team.”

Stevens also kept it real when discussing Boston’s stature in a changing NBA landscape.

“This is where the honest assessment part has got to come in…We’ve been to six ECF, couple finals in the last few years …we’ve won one. And when you get beaten the first round, you’re not there. So we need to be,” he said.

On one hand, the Celtics blew away expectations this season by winning 54 games in what was expected to be a gap year with Jayson Tatum’s absence. On the other, their playoff collapse highlighted some fundamental flaws in their roster construction, even with Tatum on the floor.

It will be fascinating to see how Stevens and company handle the challenge of retooling this roster as the summer approaches.

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