Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has attended the New England Patriots’ defensive meetings and he is applying their strategy to defending the NBA title with the Boston Celtics. The Celtics won a total of 80 games last season, which was the second-best mark in franchise history. They went 64-18 in the regular season before defeating the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals 4-1. They had one of the most dominant playoff streaks in NBA history with only three losses in the postseason.

However, Mazzulla is still trying to learn and improve as he begins his third season as head coach of the Celtics. He has been watching Patriots coach Jerod Mayo and is applying what the coach is doing to the basketball court. “Yeah, I think you learn a lot in those meetings,” Mazzulla told media members. “From three-step communication, in terms of how they disguise their defenses, what their different situational defenses are. All of those things are extremely important. It’s great to be able to see how you can factor that into disguising your defensive possession.”