The bond between Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola on display at the NBA Finals

Joe Mazzulla watches as many Manchester City games as possible and there is a clear symmetry between that English football powerhouse and the Boston Celtics.

They had games on the same date 10 times during the Celtics’ regular season. When Man City prevailed, Mazzulla was delighted, and the Celtics – for whatever reason – happened to go 9-0 in their games back in the day. When Man City didn’t win, the Celtics were 0-1.

He struck up a friendship with Man City manager Pep Guardiola; the two exchanged jerseys when Mazzulla visited his team during the NBA All-Star break, and Guardiola had courtside seats for Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Boston. It’s part of what makes Mazzulla tick. He truly believes that coaches can help other coaches, whether the games are the same or not.

“I think as you get into it, you start to realize that once you’re in a position, nobody can relate to you except the people in those positions,” Mazzulla said Saturday in Boston, where the Celtics will host the match. 2 of the NBA Finals against Dallas on Sunday night. “So you develop a bond with other coaches and you know what they’re going through and you know what the challenges are, the opportunities and the situation you’re in. I think it’s very important that we all stick together.”

He has relationships with Boston’s other professional coaches: Red Sox coach Alex Cora, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery and new Patriots coach Jerod Mayo, someone Mazzulla has been close with for some time.

“Jerod and I approached it as assistants, how you would do things when your opportunity comes, what you learned from the head coaches you worked for,” Mazzulla said. “And now that we’re in this position, we help each other with the transition and the different experiences.”

Mazzulla visited Man City and spoke to the players there, that was big news. Guardiola being at match 1, that got a lot of attention. Boston’s coaches support each other, which will obviously be very well received by the city’s sports-crazy fans.

But there’s a lot of coach-to-coach talk that Mazzulla doesn’t do as well in public.

A few months ago, he got a Zoom call to talk to players at Division II Gannon University — because he knew the coaching staff. Mazzulla has Division II roots as well from his time coaching at Glenville State and Fairmont State. It didn’t generate any attention, probably because Mazzulla didn’t do it to seek attention. He just wanted to pass on some words of encouragement.

“Joe, it’s phenomenal what he’s done,” said former Gannon coach Jordan Fee, now an assistant at Florida Atlantic — where new head coach John Jakus is also very close to Mazzulla. “But it’s not a surprise to me. For those of us who knew Joe at Glenville State or Fairmont State, it comes as no surprise to us that he is where he is. Some things fell to him, perhaps, but greatness is greatness. People recognized him in him.”

GAME TRENDS 2

Dallas certainly wouldn’t mind seeing form carried into Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Mavericks are 3-0 in Game 2 so far in these playoffs, all on the road, winning by one, three and nine points.

Dallas is trying to become the first team in NBA history to go 4-0 in Game 2 in a single playoff round. They would also become the first team to go 4-0 in Game 2 in a postseason — regardless of location — since the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020 bubble playoffs.

“I think there’s no panic with this group,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “We didn’t play well in Game 1. Give Boston credit; they did. But it’s a series and we’re not just looking to capitalize on one game. I lost game 1 many times and responded. We think we can respond in Game 2.”

The Celtics are 1-2 in Game 2s so far this postseason, with all of those games coming in Boston. They lost to Miami by 10, lost to Cleveland by 24 and beat Indiana by 16 in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It should be noted that Game 2 is the only vulnerable spot Boston has had this postseason. The Celtics are 12-0 in all other games in a series.

“Every series is different. Every game is different,” Celtics center Al Horford said. “For us, we understand that it is a big challenge. We don’t really think about the past. We have to focus on this Game 2 and make sure we do the things we need to do to put ourselves in a position to win a game.”

KYRIE IN BOSTON

As expected, Mavericks guard — and former Celtics guard — Kyrie Irving wasn’t the most popular guy in TD Garden for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. No one thought there would be a warm welcome from the Boston fans, and it wasn’t.

Irving is fine with that.

“I don’t expect to be celebrated by everybody,” he said Saturday. “I’ll still be aware that a lot of people want to see me fail. But again, I think I pay more attention to how I’m celebrated from people who love me unconditionally and go home and have peace of mind.

“You know, thinking about my time in Boston, I could go on about a multitude of things that none of you here know I’m dealing with, and I don’t think many people would care. I think a few people would care and want to hear about it, and I’d leave that space open in the future if you ever want to hear about it.”

STRIKING

Boston’s current eight-game playoff winning streak is the longest in Celtics history. One more win on Sunday, and the streak begins to hit thin air.

Golden State holds the record for winning streaks in a single postseason — 15 in 2017. San Antonio won 12 straight in 1999 and the Los Angeles Lakers had 11 straight wins in 1989 and 2001.

Cleveland won 10 in a row in 2016 and 2017, the Spurs won 10 in 2012, and New Jersey had a 10-game streak in 2003.

So if Boston wins Game 2 on Sunday and pushes its winning streak to nine, it will join the 2021 Phoenix Suns, 1996 Chicago Bulls and 1982 Lakers for the ninth-longest streak in a single playoff series in NBA history.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA