Philadelphia Sixers fans came crashing back down to Earth on Monday with their Game 1 loss to the Knicks, after basking in the glow of beating the Celtics in the first round. What happened in Game 7 on Saturday is no longer visible in the rearview mirror for Philly. It's still very much visible in Boston, though, and the team is about to get another painful reminder of its abrupt end to the season, as Joe Mazzulla will likely receive the NBA's Coach of the Year award very soon.
Celtics fans only thought that they'd be celebrating Mazzulla while watching their favorite team get revenge on the Knicks in the second round. So much for that, huh?
It's a regular-season honor, so it makes sense for Mazzulla to get it after how he helped Boston reach another 50-win season after what was supposed to be a down year. The Celtics were still a top team in the East, finishing No. 2 in the standings, and they got there without having Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season. It felt like they were going to enjoy another deep playoff run, but that was before the Sixers stepped in.
Mazzulla didn't look like COY in the playoffs, and it's a good thing for Philadelphia that he didn't. He doomed his team in the end, with Joel Embiid providing some help.
Sixers ruined what was supposed to be another special Celtics season
Toward the end of the regular season, Mazzulla said that he "didn't need" to win COY, calling it "a stupid award." He said that players and his staff deserve the credit.
You have to think that Mazzulla will be even less enthused about winning the award than he already was. He's probably hoping that J.B. Bickerstaff or Mitch Johnson will win it, instead, though it feels like he's certainly the frontrunner.
It looked like the Celtics' regular-season success would carry over to the playoffs, especially when they jumped out to a 3-1 lead. Not many people outside of Philadelphia probably thought that the Sixers had it in them to claw their way back against a championship-caliber team like Boston.
As entertaining as it will be to see Boston fans react to Mazzulla winning COY and relive how the first-round series ended, it would be even better if Philadelphia channels the same energy from the final three games of the first round as it prepares to face New York in Game 2 on Wednesday.
Add us as a preferred source on Google