NEW YORK -- If nothing else, the Boston Celtics' 2025 playoff run got an appropriate slogan Saturday: "Dark, but in a good way."
That's how Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics' philosopher-coach, described the experience of inexplicably falling behind 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the New York Knicks after brutal home losses but then springing back to a dominant 115-93 Game 3 victory at Madison Square Garden.
"This is the fun part; you don't get into the journey for it to be easy," Mazzulla said. "You've got to tap into your darkness, that's it."
The words are Joe Mazz', the label Brian Windhorst's. I agree with Windy, that's philosophical. Erik Spoelstra turned philosopher this season. (It was either that or the mental asylum for Spo.)