Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Deserves Credit For Underrated Game 4 Decision
Green Teamers have spent months shouting from Boston rooftops in hopes Celtics first-year coach Joe Mazzulla would develop a better feel for the game, especially in the most important moments.
Mazzulla did just that Tuesday night when the Celtics took the floor against the Miami Heat in a win-or-go-home Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics coach had arguably the best game of his first season at the helm. His ability to be at his best was rooted in a few specific, and potentially game-altering, decisions in Boston’s 116-99 victory at Kaseya Center.
Perhaps the most notable came in the form of a third-quarter timeout.
“He just got us composed,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown told reporters after the win, per ASAP Sports. “It looked like potentially we was in a bad spot, and he called a timeout. I thought that was a good decision.”
With 8:27 left in the third quarter and the Celtics in the midst of cutting a nine-point deficit to 61-58 following a pair of 3-pointers from Jayson Tatum, Brown found himself on the sideline with nowhere to go. Miami’s Jimmy Butler and Kevin Love were flying at him, and it certainly felt like a turnover was inevitable, especially since Boston turned the ball over eight times in the first half and Brown’s ballhandling isn’t known for being top notch. With the play clearly breaking down, Mazzulla whistled for a timeout. It certainly wasn’t something Green Teamers had grown accustomed to, Mazzulla stopping a broken play before it leads to a worse result. But that’s just what he did.
The Celtics came out of that timeout and had one of their best offensive sequences to that point, which was capped off by Al Horford finding Derrick White for a 3-pointer in the corner. It tied the game 61-61 with 8:16 remaining in the third and Boston never trailed thereafter. The stoppage was sandwiched between two halves of an 18-0 scoring spurt, the C’s turning a 61-52 deficit into a 70-61 lead.
Mazzulla’s explanation for doing so should bring joy to Celtics fans. Again, it’s what many had been waiting for.
Source: NESN
