The Boston Celtics have had some impressive wins like their 132-106 road thumping of the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday (Jan. 17) night on their way to an unexpected second-place status in the Eastern Conference standings at the midpoint of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. But they have also had some stinkers interspersed among those signature wins (the recent 98-96 loss to the Indiana Pacers comes to mind), which doesn’t make Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla’s job as easy as it might be.
After Boston’s blowout of the Hawks this weekend, Mazzulla was asked what striking the balance in terms of coaching style was given this dynamic and its outcomes for Boston. “It’s just a balance of toughness and grace,” offered the Celtics coach via CLNS Media. “It’s just a long season.”
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“So … just because we played well tonight doesn’t mean anything the next day,” continued Mazzulla. “If you had lost tonight, it doesn’t mean anything the next day.”
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – JANUARY 17: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics reacts against the Atlanta Hawks during the fourth quarter at State Farm Arena on January 17, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
“And I think you just have to keep it as that. As long as we can come in the next day and not know if we won or lost, we can just get better.”
“So I think the guys do a great job of whether we lose a close game, whether we win, we come in the next day and you can’t tell what the past result was. We’ve just got to keep that up. So I think the guys are doing that and we’re just going to keep making that decision.”
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Joe Mazzulla on how he adapts coaching to how Celtics play