Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla enjoyed his front row seat to Al Horford's defensive clinic versus LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers

This was more than just game No. 64 of 82. Saturday made clear the push for playoff form is underway, even if Mazzulla would never admit it.

"I was like, ‘Man, this guy’s a future Hall of Famer. I get to watch this for free.’" The post Celtics, Joe Mazzulla in awe of ‘old reliable’ Al Horford’s performance in win vs. Lakers appeared first on Boston.

Since that matchup, JJ Redick's Lakers have only improved, winning 17 of their last 20 games. The game-changing addition of Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks has also elevated LA into serious title contention as they took an eight-game winning streak into Saturday.

NBA offenses revolve around attacking weaknesses, and the Los Angeles Lakers thought they found one in Boston Celtics center Al Horford. They failed to realize the 38-year-old is actually one of Boston’s greatest strengths,

Joe Mazzulla and JJ Redick are facing off as head coaches at TD Garden on Saturday, but the two very well could have been working together on the night. The Athletic's Jovan Buha revealed that Mazzulla had twice tried to recruit Redick to join the Boston Celtics' coaching staff,

The Los Angeles Lakers made the bold decision to hire JJ Redick as their head coach after parting ways with Darvin Ham. Redick had never been a head coach before at any level of basketball. It's safe to say that the Lakers made the right decision.

Kenny Atkinson is heavily favored to win Coach of the Year, but could a late-season Lakers surge get JJ Redick back into the race?