BOSTON — After Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla entered the locker room for the first time as a winning coach following Boston's season-opening 126-117 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, he gave his players a few moments of praise and encouragement for a comprehensive performance against one of the franchise's oldest and most bitter rivals.
Then, he paused. «I don't think he knew it was coming,» Jaylen Brown would later say with a smile. The «it» Brown was referring to was the water bottle shower he and the rest of his teammates gave their coach to celebrate his first victory — which was immediately followed by Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck presenting Mazzulla with the game ball.
For a team that has been through quite a bit over the past several weeks since Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was suspended for the season just days before training camp, it was a cathartic moment. «I'm grateful for the relationship we have,» Mazzulla said. «These guys have been through a lot together, and they're great players.
So it's just a matter of working together. So I appreciate their trust and buy-in, but they come up with a lot of good stuff as well and we kind of just figure it out.» The Celtics certainly figured plenty of things out Tuesday night, as they — quite literally — ran the 76ers off the famed parquet floor at TD Garden.