Sad news: Boston Celtics have decided to let go of a great Coach Joe Mazzulla due to the..

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla waved his arm on the Boston Celtics sideline, demanding his team to push the ball up the court. With an NBA championship in sight early in the fourth quarter of Game 5 Monday night, he begged his team to increase the pace. Possession after possession, he urged the Boston pLast season, Mazzulla was hastily tapped as the Celtics’ interim head coach just days before training camp, after Ime Udoka was suspended. His quirks became a source of intrigue, humor, and—when his methods didn’t work—mockery. But even after losing to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, he doubled down, telling JJ Redick at the beginning of this season that the fault didn’t lie with his philosophy as much as his execution. “I didn’t teach it well,” he said. “I didn’t put my players in the best possible position to succeed. Now I gotta double down on my teaching.”

Luke Kornet, the Celtics’ backup center, who would often run into Mazzulla while attending Mass on road trips, credits his coach’s commitment to his vision to his faith. “When you know who it is you’re truly accountable towards and what your heart tells you about the best thing to do,” says Kornet, “to act in any other way other than that would be lying and deceitful. He’s very convicted on that end.”layers to speed up.