Doc Rivers Gushes Over Celtics, Joe Mazzulla Ahead Of NBA Playoffs

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers

Doc Rivers Gushes Over Celtics, Joe Mazzulla Ahead Of NBA Playoffs originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Only two men know what it's like to lead the Boston Celtics to a championship over the last 39 years: Doc Rivers and Joe Mazzulla.

Rivers only won one, however, so Mazzulla is trying to become the first Celtics head coach to win multiple titles since K.C. Jones in the 1980s.

Rivers thinks Mazzulla and his players have a good chance to do, praising them during his appearance on "The Bill Simmons Podcast" earlier this week.

After managing the Big Three in Boston, Rivers was especially impressed with how Mazzulla and the team handled Jayson Tatum's return from injury this season.

"That could have gone bad. I did think they had the equity of a title, and so that kind of makes them wanna play right," Rivers told Simmons. "I also thought Joe did his best work there. Like, he made it clear: this is Jaylen Brown's team this year. And then you gotta give a ton of credit to Tatum."

To Rivers' point, Tatum's return to the starting lineup has been relatively seamless over the last six weeks. While Tatum's had his share of , the Celtics have not, going 13-3 with him on the floor this season.