Joe Mazzulla will be in Cleveland tonight. He just won’t be coaching the Celtics from the sideline.
Boston opens its preseason against the Cavaliers at Rocket Arena (7 p.m. EST), but Mazzulla is turning the team over to assistants Tony Dobbins and DJ MacLeay. Dobbins will coach the first half and MacLeay the second.
“I want to give them the opportunity to be able to just build themselves as coaches,” Mazzulla told reporters in Cleveland. “Both guys had coaching interviews this past summer, and I want them to be able to build on that.”
Mazzulla said the move is about giving both assistants something they can’t really replicate in practice.
“Sometimes the only experience is being out there on the sideline,” he said. “So, I want to give that to them. They deserve it. They’ve earned it.”
As for Mazzulla, he plans to watch the game from the back with players who aren’t participating and members of Boston’s video staff.
That, he said, will give him a different view of the game and perhaps allow him to notice things he wouldn’t ordinarily see while coaching from the bench.
Mazzulla said he plans to coach Boston’s next two preseason games before allowing lead assistant Sam Cassell to handle the preseason finale.
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