Head coach Joe Mazzulla says he is preparing for the Boston Celtics to be a “target” as the team begins its title defense this fall.

“People’s going to say the target’s on our back, but I hope it’s right on our forehead, in between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot,” Mazzulla said on Wednesday’s episode of the Locked On Celtics podcast (3:00 mark.)

The first practice of the Celtics’ 2024-25 training camp is set to take place on Sept. 25.

The Celtics will be facing the Denver Nuggets in two preseason contests during the 2024 NBA Abu Dhabi Games on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6.

The North American preseason begins for the Celtics on Oct. 12, leading up to the team’s Oct. 22 regular-season start at home against the New York Knicks.

There the Celtics will begin their bid to repeat as NBA champions, a feat last achieved by the 2018 Golden State Warriors.

The Celtics have reason to believe they have a shot at a repeat after managing this offseason to keep their championship roster mostly intact. As Celtics star Jayson Tatum recently put it, “We have the same team coming back.”

Mazzulla, who coached at Fairmont State before joining the Celtics staff in 2019, worked as an assistant under Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka before he was named interim head coach in September 2022.

The Celtics started the season 42-17 under Mazzulla’s tenure, leading to his promotion to head coach in February 2023.

Boston was bounced in the Eastern Conference Finals during his first playoff run at head coach, but it only took Mazzulla one more year to lead the Celtics to the title.

Mazzulla said in June on ESPN’s The Lowe Podcast that he has been thinking about how his team could repeat as champions “since the horn went off” in Game of the 2024 NBA Final. It sounds like his intensity toward repeating has not at all lessened in the months since the Celtics were crowned last season’s champions.