Joe Mazzulla is a man of principles. And the Celtics coach doesn’t forget or ignore them, no matter the circumstances.
He proved it again in a moment that went viral near the end of the Celtics’ win over the Suns on Thursday night at TD Garden. Jaylen Brown had just thrown down a monster slam on Grayson Allen that put the Celtics up 18 with three minutes left in the game. Suns coach Frank Vogel called a timeout, ready to throw in the towel and remove his starters.
On the other side, Mazzulla stayed engaged on the action even after the whistle. As Suns forward Royce O’Neale threw up a harmless, deep 3-pointer, Mazzulla came out of nowhere to try to block the shot. It was wildly unusual. Typically, those after-the-whistle shots are contested by players on the court, not by a coach from the sideline.
But according to Mazzulla, it’s an organization rule to do what he did. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a coach or a player – he demands for it to be followed.
“I saw a guy going in to try to get a shot,” Mazzulla said. “He hadn’t made one, and I didn’t want him to feel good about himself going to the bench. … That’s the bench rule. Guys don’t shoot shots in front of our bench to go back to their bench to feel good about themselves. If I’m going to ask the guys to contest, (the) staff has to do the same.
“I just think it’s important. I think it’s a small detail of the game. It’s a little gamesmanship, but you can’t have guys going back to the bench feeling good about themselves.”
For Mazzulla, it didn’t matter that the game was lopsided and that there was barely any time left. He set a standard and expectation for the rule, and there are no exceptions.
“There’s a dead ball,” Mazzulla said. “I did it last year. We’ve done it multiple times. I mean, I don’t care. At the end of the day, it’s about the mindset and approach that we bring in. It’s within the rules of the game. …
“It’s about just setting the tone. It’s that. So one of my biggest pet peeves is just thinking that a guy’s just going to get a free shot, and it’s just not the way it works. And if we’re going to hold our team to the standard, then hold the staff to the same thing. So there’s been times where we’ve missed it and I’ve held the staff accountable to it, and you’ve got to do the best job you can of not doing it.”
Brown didn’t see Mazzulla’s contest of O’Neale because he was busy celebrating after his dunk, but he wasn’t surprised when he heard what transpired.
“That sounds like Joe Mazzulla,” Brown said.
“I’ve definitely seen him do it in the past. If the guy keeps trying to shoot, Joe will just keep playing defense. He’ll take it as far as he needs to. I missed that one. I wish I would’ve seen it, though.”
Jayson Tatum saw it, and he didn’t blink an eye.
“Joe being Joe,” Tatum said.
“That’s who Joe is. So when he did it, I wasn’t caught off guard. I expect him or one of the coaches to do that. Gotta love Joe for Joe.”
