Joe Mazzulla Makes Admission About Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving

The Celtics face their toughest challenge of the postseason, but Joe Mazzulla never is one to play the simple game.

Boston appears on track to get Kristaps Porzingis back from injury as the star big man continues to ramp up his workload in practice. The C’s are ready for the challenge of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who looked unstoppable in the Western Conference finals.

However, when asked about the idea of stopping the Dallas Mavericks star duo, Mazzulla, as he usually does, gave a nuanced answer.

“That’s what people like to focus on. They don’t look at the game as a connected game,” Mazzulla told reporters Saturday, per NBA-provided video. “If those guys play well, they beat you. They don’t look at your offense. They don’t look at your turnovers. They don’t look at your transition. They don’t look at your second-chance points. They don’t look at your execution on the offensive end. The game is connected, and it’s not going to come down to just one thing. … This only series is going to be about ‘stopping’ those two guys. There is no ‘stopping’ them. There is defending them at a high level, and there’s playing a complete game because every part of the game is connected.”

Mazzulla’s answer is in line with his approach throughout the season. The Celtics head coach continued and noted how they aim to win every quarter and not just worry about crunch time, which he acknowledged the Mavericks have more experience in.

So if Doncic or Irving continue their dominant performances, it won’t be the most pressing thing on Mazzulla’s mind, but it probably will be a topic of conversation if the Celtics can’t come away with wins in those outings.