A rollercoaster season for the Boston Celtics ended in huge disappointment with an Eastern Conference finals defeat to the Miami Heat, and the midseason departure of one of head coach Joe Mazzulla's most trusted allies played a huge role in the dysfunction that cost them a chance at an NBA title.
First-year head coach Mazzulla faced huge criticism throughout the playoffs as the Celtics dropped two games to the Atlanta Hawks and scraped past the Philadelphia 76ers thanks to record-breaking game-seven heroics from Jayson Tatum before falling 3-0 down to the eight-seed Heat.
The Celtics recovered to tie the series but crumbled in game seven on Monday as the Heat advanced to the NBA Finals to take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. While the Heat roster continues to play at a greater level than the sum of its parts, the same cannot be said for the Celtics, who racked up 57 regular-season wins but failed to perform consistently in the playoffs.
