At this juncture of the NBA calendar, there’s little left for Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics to prove — at least during the regular season.
With just seven games separating Boston from the playoffs entering Wednesday night, the Celtics were already secure atop the Eastern Conference, clinching the top seed and securing home-court advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs last month.
For most teams, that coronation atop the conference might have signaled a lighter workload down this final regular-season stretch.
But ahead of Wednesday’s game against a banged-up Thunder team, Mazzulla offered up another challenge to his team.