Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has built quite the reputation as one of the NBA’s fiestiest, zestiest, and most outspoken tacticians. On Tuesday, all that was on display in the aftermath of the Celtics’ 98-96 loss to the East-worst Indiana Pacers.
Asked by a reporter to go through the Pacers’ go-ahead bucket with seconds left in the game, all Mazzulla could answer was, “Illegal screen.” He was asked five more questions after that, and his reply each time was—yes, you guessed it!—“Illegal screen.”
Mazzulla was alluding to a Pascal Siakam screen for Andrew Nembhard at the top of the key that got Derrick White off-balance and forced him to switch onto the 6-foot-8 forward. Siakam, with the decided size advantage, backed down White, got to the paint, and sank the marginal basket.
Bad Loss Irks Mazzulla?
Mazzulla’s postgame mini-meltdown is understandable. After all, Siakam might have actually gotten away with an illegal screen on White, although it certainly is open to interpretation.
But there might be another reason. The Celtics, who have surprisingly been one of the better teams so far in the East, lost to the Pacers, who are currently the worst team in the Eastern Conference and among the league’s worst this season. So, it has to be frustrating for Mazzulla and his exacting standards to see his Celtics lose to a team it should have beaten handily.
Coming into the game, Boston was second in the East with a 24-14 record, while Indiana was in last place in the entire league at 8-31. So, yes, the Celtics were the decided favorites to beat the Pacers on Tuesday.
However, the last-place Pacers had other things in mind, and after 47+ minutes, they had put themselves in a position to pull out the upset. And, illegal screen or not, they got the job done in the end.
