Joe Mazzulla on how Boston Celtics will deal with a stronger NBA Eastern Conference

For many years now, the NBA's Western Conference has been the dominant of the two, with the Eastern Conference the junior partner in the Association in terms of the strength of the ball clubs that comprise it. But this season, even though consensus has the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder as the two best teams in the league, it is the East that is the stronger conference from teams Nos. 1 to 15.

And that is not lost on Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who spoke about how this surge in difficulty may impact the Celtics campaign ahead after a training camp practice on Wednesday (Sep. 30) morning. "For us, it felt like regular season has always meant the same amount," said Mazzulla via CLNS Media. "I think … one of the strengths of the guys on the roster and the locker room is there's very few regular season games that I don't feel that … we take them seriously."

"So I expect that regardless of … the strength of the conference or not," he added. "At the same time, it is a really deep conference, and I think the league is really good. I think the league is as balanced as it's ever been."

"Going roster for roster, there's a ton of great teams out there," said Mazzulla. "There's a ton of different matchups that could give teams problems on any given night, and … with the rule changes, you're going to expect more of that."

"And so we were talking to the team about that yesterday. When the schedule comes out, based on how the league had been in the past, you could look at 10 or so games, and be like 'Okay, that's one that we're going to get', whereas I think where the rosters are and the way the league is now, there's maybe zero of those."

"I think it makes the competition better," said the Celtics coach. "I think it forces us to get better and better every game."