Joe Mazzulla’s festive explanation for outburst at refs after Celtics fall to Bulls
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla might end up on the naughty list for his postgame encounter with the refs.
BOSTON — Christmas is almost here, and Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wanted to spread some holiday cheer in his own way on Thursday night following a 117-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
After the Celtics trailed by nine points with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, they rattled off a 6-0 run to make it a one-possession game with under six minutes to play. However, shortly after the C’s made it 99-96, Mazzulla stepped on the court to argue with official Justin Van Duyne. Boston’s skipper then received a technical foul and since reigning NBA Finals MVP and Celtics star Jaylen Brown didn’t agree with the call, he let Van Dunye know about it and generated another technical foul.
Those two whistles gifted Bulls star Zach LaVine two points via technical free throws, pushing Chicago’s lead to five points. The Bulls never looked back, as they closed out the game with relative ease and handed the Green Team their largest loss of the season.
Before everybody returned to the locker room, Mazzulla offered the referees a fiery goodbye.
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Yet, Mazzulla claimed that his parting words were actually festive.
“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday,” Mazzulla joked when asked what his postgame message to the officials was. “I wasn’t sure I was going to see them before the holiday.”
The New England native will likely be fined for pursuing the refs. The league might lighten Brown’s pockets as well for the second time this season for bashing the late-game officiating, which featured three technical fouls against the Celtics in a two-minute span in the fourth quarter.
“Joe didn’t say anything to deserve a tech,” Brown argued. “I come and shake all the refs’ hands because I speak for my team. I’m allowed to talk. So when I tell [Van Duyne] you called a tech for no reason and you say, ‘If you say it again, I’m calling another tech,’ then I say it again and you call a tech, you just threatened your whistle as a threat. Like, that’s not a part of the game either and it’s bull****.”
The Celtics’ tempers might have flared more than usual on Thursday because their shots weren’t falling. They failed to connect on 42 of their 56 attempts from 3-point land while the Bulls hit 19 of their 52 shots from deep. Boston’s 42 failed 3-pointers tied an unfortunate franchise record that was set during its previous loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 7.
On average, the Celtics shoot a league-leading 51 triples per game, so misses are bound to happen. Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who hit four of his 11 attempts beyond the arc, can live with this reality.
“We played our normal game tonight,” he commented in his postgame press conference. “We just didn’t shoot the ball nearly as well as we normally do.”
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The Green Team couldn’t overcome loads of 3-point misfires and LaVine’s 36-point performance. And while the refs weren’t necessarily Boston’s downfall, Tatum wasn’t a fan of how a few whistles impacted the contest down the stretch.
“It was just tough. The segment Justin had kind of changed that [part] of the game. You don’t necessarily love that,” he stated. “You want the players to play and dictate the game like that. But, 82 games—sh** happens.”
Tatum and Brown combined for 50 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists on the night. Their contributions weren’t enough to prevent the Celtics from dropping to 21-6 on the season and falling two games behind the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers.
They won’t have to wait long for revenge, though. The C’s meet the Bulls again on Saturday evening in the Windy City. The two Eastern Conference foes will then square off one last time in the regular season in late January.
Daniel Donabedian is a beat reporter for ClutchPoints covering the Boston Celtics. He’s also covered Villanova men’s basketball (where he went to school) and Big East basketball for SB Nation, building a strong reputation in the northeast.
