Joe Mazzulla explains magic behind Celtics' persevering locker room

BOSTON — To the untrained eye, the Boston Celtics' 113-108 win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night was extraordinary. The C's had just eight players available and couldn't advance or fall in the standings, so one would expect them to take the virtual rest day easy. Meanwhile, the Magic had nearly their whole lineup healthy and could improve their seeding, making the matchup theoretically mean a lot more to them. That's not how things went down at TD Garden, though. The Celtics played harder and were fueled by several guys motivated to prove themselves, even in the last game of the season. And while Boston's benchwarmers defeating the Magic's starters was stunning in some ways, it also epitomized what the Celtics had done all season long: exceed expectations.

I asked Joe Mazzulla how proud he is of his guys for persevering and exceeding expectations tonight and all season long:

“We said it all year, one through 15, whoever steps on the floor there is an expectation to put us in position with the opportunity to win. Stick to the… pic.twitter.com/ahxhkexanQ

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) April 13, 2026 “We said it all year, 1 through 15, whoever steps on the floor there is an expectation to put us in position with the opportunity to win," Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told Celtics Wire following the regular season finale. "Stick to the process of winning. Today is no different than the other 81 games from the standpoint of we had...eight guys and the expectation is to put us in a position to win, to execute, to play hard, to play together." On Sunday, the Celtics had four players set career-highs for scoring, including wing Baylor Scheierman (30 points), center Luka Garza (27 points), guard Ron Harper Jr. (27 points), and rookie John Tonje (13 ponts). Despite these incredible and largely unexpected performances, Mazzulla emphasized that it was nothing out of the ordinary for his hard-working squad that never quits. "Today is no different than the other 81 times," Mazzulla said. "Regardless of who’s in, who’s out." Ron Harper Jr. on how the Celtics stay steady and even-keeled:

“We definitely didn’t go into this game thinking it was David vs. Goliath…We came into the game expecting to compete and expecting to win.” pic.twitter.com/zxB2EVx6GK

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) April 13, 2026 While some would argue that the aforementioned Celtics overachieving and helping upset the Magic perfectly encapsulates why Mazzulla should be Coach of the Year, he'd never propose that argument himself. At the end of the day, he'll always credit his players first. "I think today is kind of the perfect example of just the locker room and the group of guys that we have," he said. "Everybody knows that if you’re on the floor, you’re expected to play a certain way to put us in a position to win, and the guys did that tonight.” Where the Magic made careless mistakes, the Celtics played connected. Boston's starting five wasn't one that had ever been used before, yet the young, largely inexperienced group seemed more at ease than Orlando's crew. “No matter who (Mazzulla) puts on the court, you know they're going to play hard for him and for each other," Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley said prior to his team's disappointing defeat. Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley on the Celtics being inspired by Joe Mazzulla: