Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla reacts to a play. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics already clinched a playoff spot and will likely be the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, so losing one game to the Miami Heat on Wednesday night shouldn’t be the biggest deal to them at this point of the season.

The Celtics also hadn’t lost a game since March 12, meaning the losing feeling isn’t common for the Boston squad this year. Coach Joe Mazzulla actually thinks it’s beneficial for the Celtics to have lost Wednesday’s game so the team can get some added motivation to keep competing at their highest level despite already making the playoffs.

“I mean, we’re all pissed. We all hate losing,” Mazzulla said after the game. “That was my message. That was a great reminder that losing still sucks. So I love the fact that the staff is miserable, the guys are pissed. … We’ve got to come back and do it again the next day. I think it’s great. Like you said, at the end of the day, it doesn’t have much of an impact, but it still sucks and we’re all miserable right now. We’ll get back after it the next day.”

Joe Mazzulla on what to take from an essentially meaningless game:

“I mean, we’re all pissed. We all hate losing. And that was my that was my message. That was a great reminder that losing still sucks. So I love the fact that the staff is miserable, the guys are pissed… We’ve… pic.twitter.com/Pm3GZYPLZJ

— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) April 3, 2025

If anything, this “miserable” feeling the Celtics experienced on Wednesday, according to Mazzulla, was good for the team to confront so that they won’t want to feel it again.

We’ll see if Wednesday’s loss motivates the Celtics enough to beat the Phoenix Suns on Friday.