NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT VS. CELTICS

May 29, 2023

Joe Mazzulla

Boston Celtics

Game 7: Postgame

Miami Heat - 103, Boston Celtics - 84

Q. Looked like Jayson got hurt on the first play of the game and never quite looked like himself. And the offense once the threes weren't falling just kind of struggled to find a sense of purpose it seemed like. So, after spending the whole season trying to play off of getting stops, just kind of create open threes, how did this kind of represent a lot of struggles you guys had all season?

JOE MAZZULLA: Yeah, I thought in the first quarter and a half or so we continued to fight defensively, even though our shots weren't falling. Then we just couldn't score.

Q. What did you do to try to create some kind of easier looks, more rhythm looks that fit some of the personnel you have to try to at least get them something to fall?

JOE MAZZULLA: Just our switch attack. Try to move against the zone.

Q. What was the difference between tonight and the last three games, where you seemed to be playing with confidence, the defense was good, the was energy there? Tonight, it just seemed like after the first six minutes something changed.

JOE MAZZULLA: Shot 21 percent from three. Defense was still there.

Q. Is this team too reliant on the three-point shot? Does that have to change?

JOE MAZZULLA: No.

Q. How did the game plan have to adjust to navigate perhaps any limitations Jayson had?

JOE MAZZULLA: Nothing. I thought we just -- he just tried to play through it, as best as he could.

Q. How do you, obviously with it ending right now, when you look back on the season, how do you assess the season this team has had?

JOE MAZZULLA: It's one of the best locker rooms I've been a part of. Guys cared. They gave it everything they had. That's the most important thing to take from this. Obviously, we didn't achieve our goal; we didn't win, which was our goal. So, we failed in that regard, but it's not because the guys didn't have a sense of togetherness, character and just who they are as people.

Q. Game 6 you guys shot 20 percent from three but found a way to win. What was missing today to overcome that, where your favorite part of the offense, the one you rely on, didn't pull through?

JOE MAZZULLA: Yeah, I thought they made shots. We weren't as efficient in transition. Thought we just didn't play well. Just didn't play well. Yeah.

Q. I know just fresh off going to the locker room and talking to the guys but what's the message to them, if you talked to them at all after?

JOE MAZZULLA: Like I said, just I love them, and they need to know -- when we were down 3-0, the thing was how do we want to be defined? I thought they showed a lot of character by even getting to this point.

Q. Obviously in a situation like this there's a tendency to kind of look back at missed opportunities. Do you look back at maybe Game 2 and do you look back with any regret at some of the things you maybe could have done to win earlier rather than put yourself in this situation?

JOE MAZZULLA: No.

Q. This has been kind of a crazy journey for you guys from the start. You got thrust into the job just a few days before the season started. How will you reflect once you step away from this a little bit about this experience and this team?

JOE MAZZULLA: What do we have to do to get better I think is what we have to learn from that. Regardless of those circumstances, the guys, the locker room showed a sense of toughness and togetherness, starting out the season a certain way and getting to this point and just got to figure out how to be better.

Q. Obviously you almost made history. What do you think the difference was at the end in this series for you guys and I guess how proud are you of this group the way that they did show the character in coming back?

JOE MAZZULLA: Yeah, it's the most important thing is that. They could have easily have folded and they didn't. So, it's just who they are as people. I said it all year long. I thought the difference was they played better than we did for longer stretches. That's it.

Q. Malcolm came back tonight. Obviously didn't have his best but tried to gut it through. How tough is it for you from a coaching standpoint, trying to give a guy a chance there and knowing that he might not be close to a hundred percent when's out there?

JOE MAZZULLA: It's not tough. Just knowing the guys and understanding that they're going to do everything that they can to play, and we'd like to give him that opportunity. So, he did everything he could and he just didn't have it.

Q. You're underplaying it. Your best player was injured on the first play of the game and they were coming after you defensively. Can you just talk about how much -- I know you don't want to make excuses, but your best player was hurt.

JOE MAZZULLA: What do you want me to say? You answered it for me. They played well. The Heat played better than we did and that's it. Credit to them. We didn't play well tonight.