BOSTON — Nearly a year ago, the Celtics endured an early exit in the NBA’s inaugural regular-season tournament, now known as the “Emirates NBA Cup.” Back for another bid at some early-campaign glory, Boston is all in.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla spared no expense when it came to chasing last season’s title, even busting out an unexpected “hack-a” defensive tactic on ex-Chicago Bulls center Andre Drummond. That controversial trick up Mazzulla’s sleeve, coupled with the third-year sideline chief’s overarching mindset to Boston’s defense as reigning champions, hasn’t gone anywhere.
When the Celtics take the floor on Tuesday night to host the Atlanta Hawks, the team isn’t expected to pump the brakes the slightest, even though the stakes-raising matchup benefits the Celtics — in the bigger scope — in no way, shape or form.
“I think every year you’ll just look at it from a different perspective,” Mazzulla said pregame at TD Garden. “I like the idea of it. You see it around the world. I think the best way to, in my opinion, make it more impactful is to move it away from the 82-game schedule so it’s not just a regular season game, it’s something different. You see the other tournaments around the world; they don’t count toward your domestic league and it’s its own league entirely.”
The NBA Cup is dispersed rather than condensed to a specific portion of the season. By design, it made skippable matchups in the early months of the campaign worth watching and provided an incentive for players to reserve their disinterested demeanor for the All-Star Game in February.
“It’s an opportunity for us to win something, an opportunity for us to go after something so we’re looking at it from that perspective,” Mazzulla added.
Mazzulla’s motor is fueled by an ultra-competitive spirit that the now-entrusted 36-year-old has made contagious among Boston’s locker room. If there’s a chance to rip bragging rights from the hands of anyone else — big or small — Mazzulla’s Celtics go for it. Now, the banner defenders have a chance to do just that, going up against a (very) undermanned Hawks teammates that’s already sunk to the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Atlanta will take the floor without star guard Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter, among three others, but that hasn’t taken away from head coach Quinn Synder’s stance on the tournament.
“I do like it,” Snyder said. “I don’t know what there isn’t to like right now. I think as people have gotten comfortable with it, and they’ll get more and more comfortable with it, it’s something that is unique. Obviously, having spent a little time in Europe with the Euro League and the tournaments and some of those things, it does add something to our league. … It does create — I think from a competitive standpoint — to be able to focus on something else, even though there is a regular season attached to it, of course. But a chance to play in a tournament with a different mindset and a championship and all those things that are associated with that.”
Boston is also set to debut their new, (very) green parquet floor exclusively designed for all of its NBA Cup matchups.
“I asked Zaccharie Risacher if he ever played on a green court when he was in France,” Snyder shared. “I don’t think he has so hopefully he’ll be comfortable.”
