The Boston Celtics' mantra to get back to the NBA Finals - 'Just do whatever it takes'

ATLANTA — Joe Mazzulla had about two minutes to accomplish quite a bit.

It was during the first timeout of Sunday's Game 4 at State Farm Arena — the Boston Celtics led by three points after Derrick White's jump shot with 7:47 remaining in the first quarter forced the Atlanta Hawks to request the break — when the Celtics coach walked to Jaylen Brown to ask what he was recognizing in the Hawks' coverage.

Mazzulla then quickly turned his attention, and his ire, to White, angrily reminding him of a blown defensive assignment in those first few minutes of play, staring him down while rushing to his assistants for the final moments of game planning.

That's the kind of constant, relentless attention Mazzulla and the Celtics say they'll require this postseason if they're going to get over the pain of losing last year's NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors.

Boston managed to improve upon enough fine details to beat the Hawks 129-121 and take a 3-1 series lead heading back home for Tuesday's Game 5. It was the Celtics' first opportunity this postseason to respond to a loss, testing the resolve the team had spent all season building.

Friday's Game 3 loss wasn't a shock to the system like last season's Game 6 home loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, which made Boston's path to the Finals that much trickier, but it was enough to remind the Celtics of what it takes to experience a similar redemption story to the 2017 Warriors, 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, 2014 San Antonio Spurs, 2012 Heat, or any team that lost in the Finals and used that memory to drive it to a championship the following year.

«Early in the year [the Finals defeat] was fuel, it really got us going,» Celtics big man Al Horford told ESPN after Game