Joe Mazzulla is driven to win a championship and is in prime position to lead the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals. And after MassLive’s Lauren Campbell recently had a chat with Cedric Maxwell, who won two titles with Boston, he further proved just how focused Coach Mazzulla is on hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“He said, ‘You know I would do anything to bring another banner (to Boston),’ and literally he had tears in his eyes,” Maxwell said about a conversation he had with Joe Mazzulla during an appearance on the “First to the Floor” podcast. “I said, ‘You’re going to get there, big fella’ ... it’s the pressure of this year. If the Celtics can withstand the pressure and get through, this team could win, the way they’re constituted now, they could win two or three championships with this particular team. … They’re young, they’re athletic, they’re hungry, they’re well coached,” he added. “But it’s getting through this year, because everybody has already picked them (to win it all).”

Going into Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Celtics are in first place in the Eastern Conference with an 11 game lead as a cushion over the second seed, with an impressive 57-15 record. The success the team is having speaks for itself, and they have just clinched the first seed in the East going into the playoffs.

Mazzulla came close to reaching the NBA Finals in his first year as coach of the Celtics, but came one game short after falling to the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are playing some of their best basketball, as is Derrick White. Not to mention the addition that Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis have had to take this team to the next level.

I believe Mazzula deserves more credit than he’s getting. It’s easy to have stars in the NBA, a league full of them, but it’s not easy to manage those stars and succeed with them. Which is exactly what Mazzula is doing at an elite level. Fans will still criticize Mazzula no matter how well the Celtics play in the regular season until they do finally get over the hump. This year really does feel different though for Boston and I think Mazzula and his team are primed to get over that next title.

But the regular season doesn’t matter when it comes to the playoffs, and the Celtics will need to continue to do what they’ve done if they want to make a lengthy run and bring home Banner 18.