NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT VS. CELTICS

May 17, 2023

Joe Mazzulla

Boston Celtics

Game 1: Postgame

Miami Heat 123, Boston Celtics 116.

Q. What happened in that third quarter?

JOE MAZZULLA: Lost our offensive purpose, lost our game plan discipline, allowed them to get out in transition, get second-chance shots, didn't guard the three-point line.

Q. This is your fourth home loss. I know I asked you that question in practice yesterday, but again, you're .500 at home. How does that keep happening?

JOE MAZZULLA: I don't think that has anything to do with the fact that we won three out of the four quarters. We got away from who we are in the third quarter. Whether it's home or away, it's the details, it's the margins, it's the little things. We've shown we can do it both home and away, and I don't think that matters as much as what our mindset is during certain stretches.

Q. When it's going like that, you gave up 46 points in that third quarter, obviously if you knew how to stop it, you would have stopped it, but where along the way could it have been stopped where it wasn't?

JOE MAZZULLA: Get better shots, don't turn it over, and don't foul, don't give up offensive rebounds, and don't give up threes.

Q. You spoke at practice about needing to dial back into that urgency from the last few games of the Philadelphia series. How did you think your team adjusted to a totally different type of series in this Miami matchup?

JOE MAZZULLA: I thought the first half was good, and I thought we just let go of the rope in the third quarter, lost that sense of urgency. Adjusting to the fact that we played harder than them in the first half and they played harder than us in the second half -- third quarter.

Q. They shot higher than 50 percent from three. Was that them hitting shots? Did you see something in terms of getting out on them?

JOE MAZZULLA: That kind of goes back to some of our game plan execution as far as taking away certain personnel. Lowry hit one in transition, which he's great at. Love hit one in transition, which he hunts. We lost sight of Strus a couple times. I know he hit a deep one. I think it's more about personnel tendencies and game plan execution.

Q. Evaluation of fourth-quarter execution?

JOE MAZZULLA: Much better than our third-quarter defensive execution.

Q. You called a timeout I think after a stop with three and a half minutes left in the game. What were you telling the team you were looking for, and how come you think you turned it over several times after that?

JOE MAZZULLA: Just our spacing. Use it or lose it, had threes, one before three, got to our spacing, floor wasn't balanced, and they were able to shift off of us.

Q. Going up against Spoelstra making adjustments on the fly, changing things quickly, how did you balance letting things play out in the way you usually do versus having to seize control?

JOE MAZZULLA: I called two in the first quarter.

Q. Thinking more like the third quarter.

JOE MAZZULLA: Don't call two in the first quarter. Save it for the third-quarter run.

Q. Just a thought on being down 1-0, you were down last series, you were down last year to this same team 1-0 as you look ahead.

JOE MAZZULLA: Yes, we are down 1-0.

Q. What things do you need to do now as far as --

JOE MAZZULLA: Game plan discipline, transition defense, defend without fouling, guard the three-point line, have a better understanding of personnel tendencies, and then on the offensive end, this team does a great job of taking advantage of bad spacing and bad offensive organization.

Q. You said they played harder than you in the third quarter. That's what they do, they play harder than their opponent. How were you guys unprepared for that?

JOE MAZZULLA: We were prepared. We played harder than them in the first half. And they outplayed us for one quarter. So we were prepared for it. We had the right mindset heading into the game. No, we had the right mindset heading into the game. We played harder than they did, and we were prepared and we did a great job --

Q. Third quarter made all the difference.

JOE MAZZULLA: It did, but we were prepared, and then we let go of the rope. There's two storylines here. It's one, we were ready to play and we did a great job executing on both ends of the floor in the first half, and it's about the consistency of they're going to continue to play. So we have to be prepared for when we do outplay them that they're going to respond and we have to respond.

So we were prepared. We just let go of the rope.

Q. Why did you let go of the rope?

JOE MAZZULLA: I don't know. That's a great question. That's what we have to figure out. But it came from our attention to detail. But we were prepared for the game, and we were prepared for them, and our guys came out and played. Then we have to be better in the third quarter.

Q. You've mentioned a few times getting away from the game plan. What specifically veered out of what you were trying to do specifically for the defense?

JOE MAZZULLA: Giving up threes in transition. I thought they got out in transition. They were able to get some many leak-outs. We got cross-matched a lot in transition, which put us in some difficult spots in the half court and just lost sight of their shooters, and then they got some offensive rebounds on us in that third quarter, as well.

Q. You mentioned the preparation being where it needed to be. Al was saying what he did in practice yesterday and Malcolm mentioning that. Did anything kind of you think spill over from preparation --

JOE MAZZULLA: We won three out of the four quarters. We lost one quarter because we dropped our sense of urgency. So no.

Q. Was that just from kind of the position you were in going into halftime?

JOE MAZZULLA: Yeah, I think some of that has to do with it. We played harder than they did in the first half. So naturally they're going to respond. When you're playing at a certain level especially against a team like this, you can't just think that what you did in the past is good enough. So we have to adjust our mindset regardless of what we're doing in one quarter, we have to raise our level of urgency, we have to raise our mindset, knowing that they're going to respond, and that's what this series is about, how long can we stay the more competitive, the more physical, the more disciplined basketball team.

Q. You mentioned personnel tendencies a couple times. There were times when you doubled onto Jimmy and he was able to kick out for threes. Is that what you're looking for and being able to get out of his hands or more of the latter of losing track of shooters on the perimeter?

JOE MAZZULLA: I think it was just -- there's always freedom to make plays, and I think if a possession kind of warrants an opportunity to make a play, you try and go and make it. I think on those couple ones you're talking about, we just tried to make a play and it didn't go our way. But some of the threes are like the catch-and-shoot ones for Strus, the transition for Lowry, the transition for Love, the Vincent ones, those are the ones that you've got to work to take away.

Q. You mentioned spacing as an issue down the stretch. The ball movement was obviously really good in the first half. Marcus had 10 assists, you guys had 15. Obviously fewer in the second half. Was there anything specific Miami did, or was that more of you guys getting away from what you were doing in the first half?

JOE MAZZULLA: I obviously think they played harder. I think they gave up 40 points in the paint in the first half; they're going to make an adjustment. But I thought because we couldn't get stops in the third quarter, we weren't able to get out and get them cross-matched and get them into five-on-four situations.

Q. You talk about let go of the rope. That has been a pretty consistent thing throughout the course of the season. You guys have multiple instances of that. Why haven't you now in the Eastern Conference Finals been able to break that habit?

JOE MAZZULLA: Yeah, I think it just goes back to like who can stay the more competitive physical detailed team the longest. So we do it for long stretches, and we just have lulls at times. We've got to be better at not having those.