As of now, Joe Mazzulla is not a new teacher. As the start of his second season with the team comes, he seems more at ease. His staff has been changed. He had time off to get ready, which wasn’t the case last year.

It’s clear to Celtics forward Jayson Tatum that he’s finding ways to make his mark on the team.

“I think Joe did a great job. Tatum said, “I’ve seen the growth.” No, I thought he did a great job last year. He just has more time to get ready. He got a team that he thought would help him the most, and he’s really helped change the culture in a lot of ways.

“I feel like he’s left a big mark on how he wants things to be, how he wants to practice, how he wants the vibe,” Tatum said. Joe has done a great job of making sure things go the way he wants them to. We all agree with him. It’s been really cool to see “it’s his team, he’s the coach.”

The Celtics took the summer very seriously. Players are pushing each other as the team tries to get along again after a lot of trades.

Tatum said, “I’m not going to lie, the practice has been as hard as… The practice has only been going on for two days, but it’s been good. We’ve been very busy. The first unit has been pushed by the second unit. Guys are excited because we’ve had a lot of race days. The guys are in good shape because they’ve been working out during the off-season. These days, everything feels so new.

Derek White, Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis made up the Celtics’ first unit on Tuesday night.

The new things seemed to go well with the old ones. Before the season, they beat the Knicks 123–110 and scored 78 points in the first half.

Porzingis scored 20 points, grabbed eight boards, and changed a number of in-the-hoop shots. Holiday passed the ball four times and scored ten points.

Tatum said that the Celtics are still getting used to playing together and trying out different lines.

“It’s been a time of change. “Someone is going to have to give up something at some point,” Tatum said. “Basically, we have about six starters.” Five guys are the only ones who can play at a time. Between those six guys, someone could come off the bench or not finish on any given night. It’s up to all of us to know that it’s for the team’s benefit no matter whose night it is. That’s something we have to really believe in.”

The Celtics’ scoring style is one thing that hasn’t changed much. They are still going to miss from three-point range. On Tuesday night, they made 52 3-point shots. They made 23 of them, which is 44% of their shots from deep.

“I’m fine. Tatum said, “Training camp has been great so far.” “It was good to get back out there with the guys and finally meet someone else.” I missed that for sure. Making changes to the group and other things like that to try to find a flow and a rhythm. Pretty much getting ready for next week.”