Playoffs or preseason, the approach is the same for Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla

For Boston Celtics head coach, a summer league game is a preseason game is a regular season game is a playoff game. Or to put it more plainly, for the Celtics coach, you have to win the game that is in front of you if you want to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a title. The expectations and challengers might vary, but the process does not.

And the Rhode Island native broke down why he feels that way after a recent Celtics practice, saying "It's the same in the fundamentals and the execution. What's different is the intensity -- (and) obviously the stakes. " "And so when you have to execute details and be disciplined under higher amounts of duress, it requires another level of physicality and mindset that you have to get to.

" "And so we can't be distracted by the things that we can't control is what we're saying," said Mazzulla. "You still have to rebound, you have to run back on defense, you have to defend without fouling, you have to screen, you have to know your personnel, you have to be able to execute, you've got to be able to read two-on-ones, all that stuff is no different than a pickup game. " "What changes is the physicality that you have to do it, but also the intensity.

And so that's the piece that we have to be ready to bring. " Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on: Blue Wire: https://tiny. ee/CdKp iTunes: https://tiny.