On Thursday, September 22, The Boston Celtics announced that Head Coach Ime Udoka would be suspended for the 22-23 season effective immediately. On the 29th of September, an article was published on The Regional asking the question, “How will the Celtics fare without Ime Udoka?” It’s time to check in with the Celtics to find out how they have done so far this season. 

First, we’ll start off by looking at the Celtics preseason and regular season performance compared to last year. In 2021 and 2022, the Celtics played four preseason games. In the 2021 NBA preseason, the Celtics went 2-2, and they had the same record in the 2022 NBA preseason. In the 2021 NBA preseason, the Celtics had a net score of -19, but in the 2022 NBA preseason, the Celtics had a net score of +41, which must have been a great boost of confidence for Coach Mazzulla. 

If you look at the first seven games of each season you continue to see good signs for the future. In 2021, after the first seven games, the Celtics were 2-5 with the biggest losing streak of 3 games and a biggest winning streak of 2, they had -41 net points. This season, after seven games, the Celtics are 4-3 with a biggest losing streak of 2 games, and a biggest winning streak of three games, they have +12 net points right now. 

Even though it’s early in the season I think the Celtics have fared well with Joe Mazzulla and will continue to play well. Another factor is when you have players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford it’s hard to not look like a good team. 

Another good sight to see is that the players and fans seem to enjoy Mazzulla as their coach. Power Forward Jayson Tatum was quoted saying “the thing I like about Joe and admire about him is that he’s very honest that he doesn’t know everything” and “He wants us to help him out as much as he’s helping us out. It’s like we’re in a relationship.” The Regional interviewed Celtics fan Owen Mahoney, and he had this to say about Mazzulla:  “I think he has potential. We’re only 7, 8 games into the season and he’s been an assistant his whole career. There are some flaws including the defense, but we just need to give him time.”