“There is no stopping them!” Joe Mazzulla gets real about facing Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

Joe Mazzulla will make his finals debut as a head coach against the Mavericks duo.

“There is no stopping them!” Joe Mazzulla gets real about facing Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

Joe Mazzulla admits there is no 'stopping' Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving

The Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving have remained one of the best offensive duos. The pair has balanced their performances perfectly to take the team to some thrilling victories. As the Boston Celtics face the duo in the finals, the team needs a solid defense to slow down the Mavericks offense.

However, stopping Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving is not the main focus for the Boston Celtics‘ head coach, Joe Mazzulla. During the practice interview, the HC stated that he looked at the game as a whole, considering all the factors the team needs to be great at in order to win. But with that, Mazzulla also admitted that it would be difficult to ‘stop’ the Mavericks duo to its entirety. 

The whole thing this 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.
Joe Mazzulla via Media Availability presser
YouTube video

Further, the HC reflected on the Dallas Mavericks‘ more clutch wins than the Celtics, considering the WCF series. Hence, Mazzulla and the Celtics aim to play at a high level until the end of the games. The HC admitted that the Mavericks duo would do ‘what they do best,’ which is score. Hence, the Celtics are focusing on taking control of the game in all aspects.

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The coach is right on the mark, to say the least. The Celtics do have a dominant defense, but Doncic and Irving have incredible range and scoring abilities. The team has to be at their best on both ends to avoid close games in order to win the series.

Joe Mazzulla revealed that he studied the finals games from the early 1990s

Mazzulla certainly came prepared to talk to the media, considering his detailed thoughts on the Mavericks duo’s performance in the postseason. However, the Mavericks are not the only team the HC had studied to prepare. During the press conference, Mazzulla revealed that he has studied most of the finals series from the last three decades.

YouTube video

The HC opened up about some tips he has learned while studying the previous finals games. Mazzulla admitted that the team needs to get rid of the thoughts of playing in the finals and focus simply on the execution of each game. The HC named a list of factors a winning team needs to focus on. 

If you study all Finals games and championship atmospheres. It’s the team that plays the hardest, it’s the team that is the toughest, it’s the team that is the most physical, and it’s the team that executes at the highest level over and over again. And it’s the team that can withstand mistakes.
Joe Mazzulla via Media Availability presser

After studying the finals early in his career, Mazzulla is now making his finals debut as a head coach. As the Celtics got a ten-day break until the finals, the team had plenty of time to take in all the knowledge and be prepared for the upcoming finals. It remains to be seen if all the preparation results in a championship ring.

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