During his first season with the Greens, Jrue Holiday was constantly amazed at how much his new head coach Joe Mazzulla seemed to revel in uncomfortable situations.

Mazzulla seemed to do everything he could to put both himself and his players in tense situations. And it took him a while to realize that his madness always had an unconventional method.

“Out of everyone I know, I think (Mazzulla) has embraced adversity the most,” Holiday said. “It's gotten to the point where it's kind of scary. I have a feeling he loves it. He loves it because He knows it will shape us and help us grow.

“I think many people, even myself, find it difficult to put themselves in a challenging or compromising situation. And I feel like he does. I feel like he's doing it for himself, he's doing it for us. Especially when you know the guy.” He did his best to put us in compromising situations so that when we get to the last game, Game 4, Game 5 of a series or Game 5 (of the finals), we'll be a championship game, We will be able to fight through and win.”

The Celtics are back in Indiana on Wednesday night for the first time since ripping the Pacers' hearts out multiple times with incredibly crisp late-game play that led to a more difficult win over Indiana in the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals.

It was Holiday who scored a decisive win in Boston's feverish surge, winning Game 3 at Indiana. Jaylen Brown's heroics throughout the series helped him earn ECF MVP honors.

A big question in connection with the Celtics' entry into the playoffs was whether they would be able to consistently meet the challenge in critical situations. Boston's clutch numbers in the regular season were good, but the eye test showed the team wasn't always successful in those situations. Those numbers seemed to be diluted by some late-game errors that sometimes made the result more unpleasant than it needed to be.

But that was, at least occasionally, just part of Mazzulla's madness.

In the playoffs, the Celtics performed at their best when things were at their most uncomfortable, particularly against the Pacers. And Holiday is certain that this was a direct result of the way Mazzula prepared his team for these situations.

“I think he was always serious about us, where we obviously have a lot of talent. And people tell us that we have a lot of talent. But he tells us we suck,” Holiday said. “He tells us that you are not as good as you think you are. And that somehow balances you and keeps you balanced. So yeah, thanks Joe.”

Chris Forsberg sat down with Jordan Walsh at Celtics Media Day and talked about “most of what Joe (Mazzulla)” Jordan learned from his head coach.

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens jokes that Mazzulla has an uncanny ability to lead his team toward an end goal, even if the path to get there is often unconventional.

But whether it was letting his team play without timeouts or continually putting them in must-have situations during practice sessions, Mazzulla made sure the Celtics were ready to excel in the most tense moments .

“There wasn't anything we did (in the postseason) that we didn't know we were going to do,” said Derrick White, who hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the deciding Game 4 against the Pacers. “We would make it clear, we would break it down. For example, “Oh, we’ll do that,” or, “We’re up six, we’re going to foul.”

“It wasn’t a surprise to anyone because we had broken it down. We've talked about it all year. It'll just be a random day of practice and (Mazzulla will) have a few little end-” One thing in the game that might be crazy to someone else, but it's going to get us a game.

“He always prepared us and is always open to communication so we know what’s going on. So to the outside world it's probably crazy. But for us it's not crazy. It's comfortable. And especially at the end of the year like it’s a given at that point.”

Once you win a title, nothing is crazy anymore. And the Celtics proved last season that making them uncomfortable is nearly impossible. Or at least more uncomfortable than their trainer already made them feel.