Mazzulla was all-in on his team advancing in the NBA’s in-season tournament, even if it meant making things uncomfortable.
The uncomfortableness of Tuesday night’s Celtics vs. Bulls game, specifically the fourth quarter, wasn’t lost on Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. With Boston up 111–79 and just over seven minutes remaining in the game, Mazzulla and the Celtics began intentionally fouling Chicago center Andre Drummond to send him to the free-throw line.
This decision to take this approach stemmed from the point differential the Celtics were attempting to navigate in the NBA’s new in-season tournament. Boston needed a big win over the Bulls, as Jake Fisher of Yahoo Sports! reported their pre-game “magic number” was 23 points (one better than the Magic’s 22-point differential). The team was also tracking the Nets’ game against the Raptors for tiebreaker purposes, as Brooklyn also had a chance to advance with a big win.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan was bound to feel a bit strange about the bizarre situation, in which the Celtics were attempting to be proactive for the sake of their spot in the NBA in-season tournament.
After the game, Mazzulla was fully aware of that and took the highest of high roads. He not only sought out Donovan to apologize, but also asked to do the same to Drummond, per NBC Sports Chicago insider K.C. Johnson.
Mazzulla just apologized to Donovan in hallway and also asked to be allowed to apologize to Drummond. https://t.co/yPYSPPKxyh
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 29, 2023
As Boston also had to keep the Nets’ result in mind, Mazzulla took no chances and opted to begin the hack-a-Drummond approach early on. Unsurprisingly, Donovan was far from thrilled, but the two appeared to talk it out during the game as Mazzulla explained the situation.
Mazzulla deserves a tip of the cap for being proactive and extremely classy about it, especially considering something like this was bound to happen in an entirely new tournament structure for the NBA.
Live footage of Billy Donovan getting visibly upset at Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics for being competitive.
— Covers (@Covers) November 29, 2023
pic.twitter.com/2q4LlWWPyI
After the game, which the Celtics won 124–97, Mazzulla addressed precisely how the situation played out and what he told Donovan.
“When I started to hack-a-Drummond, Billy [Donovan] thought we had to win by 22, but he didn’t know the ramifications of what was going on in the Brooklyn-Toronto game,” Mazzulla said, courtesy of NBC Sports Boston. “And so I just had to explain to him, this is what our people are telling us, this is what we have to do, this is the process towards protecting our lead, it gives us the best chance to win and advance, and so credit to him for understanding that.”
Boston, Orlando and Brooklyn each finished 3–1 in East Group C, with the Celtics’ +27 point differential edging out the Magic’s +22 and Nets’ +20.
This was bound to be a strange spot for a few teams, and Mazzulla handled it in a way that ensured he gave his team the best chance to advance. While the structure may take some time to get used to, it’s certainly added a bit of intrigue to what would normally be some standard late-November matchups.
