The Boston Celtics are solely focused on getting themselves healthy for the playoffs. They continue to play excellent basketball despite missing some starters in the lineup.
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Even though the Celtics lost on Wednesday night to the Miami Heat, they have still won nine of their last ten games. They are pretty much locked into the second seed in the East.
Joe Mazzulla deserves a lot of credit for that strong stretch of play that the team has had over the last few weeks. No matter who has been in the lineup, they have been able to win games.
In fact, Mazzulla has been so good that he was named the NBA Coach of the Month for the month of March. It's an award that Mazzulla seemingly wants no part of.
It's clear that this award means nothing to him. He's more concerned about winning something like Coach of the Year. He's even more concerned with winning another championship.
The Celtics are trying to be the first team in almost a decade to repeat as champions. The last time it happened was the Golden State Warriors in 2015-16.
That's something that Mazzulla would certainly be proud of. He knows how hard it is to win just one championship in this league, let alone two back-to-back.
In order for them to get back to the NBA Finals, they must get healthier than what they are now. Kristaps Porzingis, Jaylen Brown, and Jrue Holiday have been dealing with injuries.
Mazzulla has the unenviable task of trying to figure out when to sit his guys and when to let them get out there to develop some momentum before the playoffs.
Boston believes that they can win the title again this year if they are able to be healthy. They won't be able to waltz through the Eastern Conference this year as they did a year agao.
The Celtics have just six games left. It wouldn't be surprising to see the full starting lineup only play together once or twice before the season ends.
