Boston – Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants to win, no matter the opponent.

Even when playing against reporters.

Here’s what happened: The Celtics had told their reporters that they could use the Auerbach Center courts for a media game after practice on Tuesday. But Mazzulla had a surprise planned as well.

“You’re not playing against each other,” Mazzulla told the group. “You’re playing against the coaches.”

With that, he walked away from the post-practice media scrum. Game on.

Well, sort of.

Final score: Celtics coaches 57, Celtics media 4. And yes, the coaches were still shooting deep 3-pointers as time expired. Mazzulla actually fist-pumped after the final basket. There was no running out the final seconds of a lopsided game, as would typically be the case in an NBA contest.

“I know Joe wanted to keep us scoreless,” Boston.com’s Khari A. Thompson good-naturedly posted on X after the game. It should be noted that Thompson was responsible for one of the two baskets by the reporters.

In fairness, the Celtics’ coaches who played Tuesday were no slouches. Amile Jefferson won a national championship at Duke. Mazzulla and Da’Sean Butler played in the Final Four with West Virginia. Phil Pressey scored four or more points 52 times in his NBA playing career. The media contingent surely knew it had no chance. The coaches ended the game on a 15-0 run, which sort of doesn’t matter considering they also started the game on a 42-2 run.

“The sheer gap in athleticism – speed, size, instincts, you name it – felt so insurmountable that I can hardly pinpoint what even went down,” Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell wrote after the game. “I’d love to take a look at a box score, but the amount of live-ball turnovers we accrued would probably make me sick.”

Mazzulla, to his credit, stuck around for the “real” media game afterward. Final score there: 25-22.

Edwards embraces ‘boring’ pursuit of greatness

Minneapolis – Anthony Edwards devoted much of his previous two offseasons to the U.S. national team for the World Cup and the Olympics, coming off intense runs through the NBA playoffs with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

As valuable as those experiences were for his flourishing career, the time Edwards had for his own training this past summer was instrumental toward his desired development into a true MVP candidate on a legitimate title contender.

“I feel like I was able to actually work on my game,” he said.

For all he’s done on the court over his first five seasons in the league, Edwards is still a 24-year-old with plenty of room to improve. As Timberwolves player development coach Chris Hines has told him often, “Greatness is boring,” a maxim seemingly tailor-made for Edwards.

“There was a lot of boring days in the gym, just working on one-dribble pull-ups,” he said. “But I think it benefits me.”

In the annual preseason survey of NBA general managers, Edwards was the runaway winner in voting for the best shooting guard in the league with a 70% share. But that doesn’t mean he’s the most complete player at that star-studded position.

“I think he became really addicted to the film room this offseason. His work ethic has always been great, but this summer has been a whole other level,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said. “I think he’s really focused on how to be more effective late in games, not just for himself but for others. His body is in unbelievable shape. It’s pretty impressive to see how quickly he has matured, not just as a player, but as a professional with his approach. He’s going to have another great year.”

The first part of his game the Wolves want advanced is on defense, where Jaden McDaniels typically plays the primary role of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Edwards, never lacking for confidence, believes he can give McDaniels a break here and there by doing the same.

“As the head of the snake, sometimes you’ve just got to take those matchups, just to show people I can play defense too,” Edwards said. “We can’t make Jaden guard the best player every night. Some nights he’s got to get the ‘B’ player, let me get the ‘A’ player. And like I said, it’s going to get me in better shape, man. It’s about trying to push myself so I can get in better shape around February and March, heading into the playoffs.”

Edwards looks leaner than he did last season, evidence of his summer conditioning in renewed pursuit of two-way stardom. He committed to getting more sleep, too, the key to physical recovery and refreshment.

“We’re trying to get back to the number one defense in the league, and I know it starts with me, especially my pressure on the ball. I can’t guard one game and not guard the next game because we’re playing, you know, somebody who’s not up to par,” Edwards said. “I’ve got to be ready every night, and I’m going to take pride in that. I told my teammates to hold me accountable, coaches included.”

At the team dinner the night before the first official practice, point guard Mike Conley led a discussion of what steps the Wolves must take on the floor and in their minds to get over the conference-final hump.

“What’s our goal? Are we coming here to put on a show, perform? Or are we trying to win a championship? What are we doing? And the consensus is, we’re trying to win a championship,” Conley said. “Ant, if you want to win a championship, we expect you to guard like you’re a top-five perimeter defender in the league, which we believe you are.”

Coach Chris Finch, asked on Tuesday for an assessment of Edwards’ buy-in to the goal of even better defense than the Wolves displayed last season, said he has “no doubt” that his best player is serious about it.

“We’ve talked a lot about consistency and the consistency of habit as one of the areas of improvement no matter what it pertains to. Ant has got to measure up here. We might do different things with matchups that put him in more high-leverage situations, which we know he can do and he enjoys,” Finch said. “It’s an NBA mantra that if you do so much on offense, you’re allowed to not play defense. The best teams don’t do that. They do what’s necessary as much as they possibly can.”

Being that ‘every-night’ player

There are plenty of finer points of playing offense that Edwards can elevate, too. He worked hard on ballhandling during the summer, a skill he acknowledged has often been skipped because of the discomfort certain drills can create on his lower back. That ought to help improve his performance in the clutch-time situations that frequently hampered the Wolves last season.

Another way he can more consistently beat double-teams is to not allow the opponents get to that point by pushing the pace and running in transition more often. Recognizing ways to keep the offense better spaced in the half-court, too, can only help. Sometimes, players as talented as Edwards also simply need to find new ways to stay motivated during the regular season.

“Try to get a career high in points,” Edwards said without hesitation when asked at the team’s media day how he can stay more engaged. “I think that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

However he does, it doesn’t matter much to the Wolves.

“Just continue to be that every-night player at a high level that we know he can be, which is what you need to do if you want to be an MVP in this league,” Finch said. “I certainly think he’s got the DNA for it, and he just has to really fully embrace it.”

Grizzlies put trust in Tuomas Iisalo

Nashville, Tenn. – Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo told the Grizzlies as they left last spring to be ready to play faster when they returned.

Now they see just how fast Iisalo wants the Grizzlies moving.

“We all might need inhalers,” two-time All-Star Ja Morant said. ”You know what you need an inhaler for? That tells you everything you need to know.”

Iisalo didn’t get the chance over the last nine games of the regular season or through Memphis’ first-round loss to eventual NBA champ Oklahoma City to change up much for the Grizzlies. But they quickly took off his interim tag. The Grizzlies spent the summer retooling the roster around their pair of two-time All-Stars in Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

They traded Desmond Bane for ex-Piston Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and four first-round draft picks. They brought back forward Santi Aldama, traded up in the draft for guard Cedric Coward at No. 11 and took guard Javon Small. Memphis brought in veterans like center Jock Landale and guard Ty Jerome.

“We’re trying to reach the highest level of the NBA, an NBA that’s changing in 2025 of the style of play and the build of a roster that you’re seeing reach the highest end outcomes,” general manager Zach Kleiman said.

Part of that included trusting Iisalo to take over after Memphis frittered away a top-tier seed in the Western Conference. They played their way to the No. 8 seed before being swept by the Thunder.

Morant said the Grizzlies spent the offseason working to be ready for what he called the toughest first day of training camp he’s had yet going into his seventh NBA season. The true test starts Oct. 22 when Memphis hosts New Orleans in the season opener.

“Do I think it can last a whole season?” Morant said. “Probably. Probably so if we just keep it up.”

Coward, who played only six games at Washington last season, got his clue of what the Grizzlies wanted during his pre-draft workouts: “I mean, they had me doing full-court sprints and running as I do in the games.”

Memphis led the NBA last season with the fastest pace of 103.69 possessions per 48 minutes, so improving on that might be a bit challenging. The phrase “speed kills” is being used as part mantra and part desired play style.

Iisalo sees it as a philosophy of how he wants his Grizzlies to be fast at everything, including pace of play. He doesn’t want to waste anyone’s time, not in a league with little time to recover before the next game.

“It’s also the decision-making, quick decision making in different situations,” Iisalo said. “And generally, if you can be the faster party, it’s going to be very difficult for the other team to keep up with you.”

On defense, Iisalo wants the Grizzlies to get their defensive rating as low as possible, rebound better, protect the rim and generally be difficult to play against. Iisalo recalled an Italian soccer coach’s team being compared to visiting a dentist.

“It should be an unpleasant experience,” Iisalo said.

That would fit in Memphis’ proud tradition of grit and grind. Landale remembers too well tough nights feeling like a dog fight as the visitor playing the Grizzlies.

“It’s one that I think fits my personality, my play style a lot,” Landale said.

The Grizzlies sure went fast during three days of training camp at Belmont University in Nashville.

Scotty Pippen Jr. said he thinks that could make games easier and force opponents into errors.

“We’ll make the other team play faster,” Pippen said.

Turnovers were a problem last season for Memphis as the Grizzlies pushed the ball up the court. Only six teams had a worse turnover ratio.

They know there may be some sloppiness early, but Pippen said creating more takeaways could improve the ratio.

The Grizzlies have injuries in the frontcourt with Jackson a question mark for the start of the season. Center Zach Edey likely won’t be available until November, and Brandon Clarke just had surgery Sept. 29 for right knee synovitis. Morant sprained his left ankle on Oct. 5, but hopes to be ready for the opener.

Caldwell-Pope is the Grizzlies’ most experienced player in his 13th season. He said he loves the fast pace and thinks it fits his style of play and complements a relatively young Grizzlies roster.

“The way we’re going I think we can be back at on top of the West,” Caldwell-Pope said. “With how fast we want to play, the chemistry we building in here and just us playing together is going to be key.”

Lakers’ pick-and-roll offense has promise

Los Angeles – For all the focus on what adding a center could do for Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves looks as though he will be just as big a beneficiary of the Lakers’ improved pick-and-roll game with new Los Angeles big man Deandre Ayton.

Reaves has shown a strong rapport with Ayton through two preseason games, turning in an efficient 21-point outing against Golden State on Sunday.

“I think that those things just grow throughout reps, and that’s kind of what we’re trying to do in preseason, is get those reps,” Reaves said. “I’m not really sitting there thinking about it in the moment. If I go by my guy, I’m gonna go by them. If I need a screen, then I’ll have him come screen. It’s been fun getting to play alongside him in that pick-and-roll.”

Ayton, who signed a two-year contract with the Lakers in July as they sought more consistent offensive production from the center position, agreed the live exhibition work alongside Reaves has been helpful in allowing him to understand the 6-foot-5 Oklahoma product’s free-flowing approach to offense with the ball in his hands.

“He’s super crafty,” Ayton said. “I like to get lost in his little freedom ’cause he has a lot of wiggle to his game, and I don’t want to be in his way at all, so I let him do his thing.”

Coach JJ Redick used the same word, “crafty,” to describe Reaves, who enters his fifth season in the NBA in better shape after the Lakers revamped their sports medicine staff. Those improvements are allowing Reaves to draw more free throws, which led Redick to an interesting player comparison.

“The ability to draw fouls, you put your hand there, and he’s able to rise to up. I played with a guy, Jamal Crawford, who was so good at that,” Redick said. “So he’s just picking up little tricks here and there to get to the free throw line. He’s always been good at that, but you see that continue to develop.”

Reaves enjoyed the association with Crawford, a three-time Sixth Man of the Year award winner.

“I like that one, too. Jamal Crawford was cold,” Reaves said. “I think where he’s coming from is kind of the creativity offensively. I don’t want to speak for him, but I’m not someone that sits there and plays what I’m about to do. Everything just kind of happens naturally, happens in the flow of the game. So I haven’t heard that one, but I like JJ a little more now.”

The Lakers will need Reaves at his best when the regular season starts next week with LeBron James out because of sciatica that will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks. Reaves, who averaged 20.2 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 rebounds last season, cautioned it will take a team effort to replace James’ production.

“I can’t go LeBron, I wish I could, but I think you got to do it as a collective group, and that’s what we’ll do,” Reaves said.

Ayton will play a key part in that assignment in the two-man offensive game, be it with Reaves or Doncic. The 27-year-old Ayton has never averaged more than 1.9 assists in his seven seasons with Phoenix and Portland, but the Lakers believe they can unlock more of his playmaking on and off the ball.

Redick said Ayton is already adapting well in his ability to create space for Reaves.

“I think DA is really good in terms of reading what the ball-handler’s defender is doing,” Redick said. “Him in the pocket has been really good, but he’s made a concerted effort to get Austin open, like create advantages for Austin using his screening, which I think is only gonna benefit everyone down the line.”

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