Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Completely Ignores Questions on 5-Second Clock Violation
The Boston Celtics barely avoided disaster late against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla didn't even want to discuss the dicey moment in the club's latest win, when things momentarily unrivaled for Boston.
The Celtics led the Pelicans by a point and were in possession of the rock with just 6.6 seconds left in regulation. Derrick White couldn't find any open target he trusted to catch the ball, and called a timeout to regroup.
Referees later assessed the Celtics with a five-second violation, a costly penalty at this point in the contest.
That gave New Orleans possession back, and a chance to win the game outright with plenty of time to get a shot off. Pelicans guard CJ McCollum came close, but his layup try ultimately fell short, and Boston managed to hold on long enough to win.
Ultimately, that 120-119 margin was the final tally.
Over the past five weeks, as the Celtics have looked uncharacteristically mortal, little pieces of the game like inbounding have started to unravel a bit for the reigning champions.
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Though Mazzulla refused to comment on the five-second violation call (perhaps an indicator that he very much disagreed with league officials' decision), he seemed unwavering in his confidence surrounding his suddenly (semi-) embattled team, as SB Nation's Noa Dalzell observed.
“I would say the ultimate compliment is that we’re 28-11 — and these are the types of conversations that we’re having,” Mazzulla said. “I’m serious. I think it’s great. It’s a great standard and a great expectation to have, and we have to deliver. And so, we all know that.”
The Celtics are currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, and trail just two clubs across the NBA by record. Yes, they ran away with the league's best record last year, but several key players suited up for the Paris Olympics this summer, and most of their core players have accrued significant playoff mileage over the last few seasons, so perhaps some regression is forgivable as this veteran squad paces itself.
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“What are we, the third-best team in the league right now?” Mazzulla wondered. The 32-6 Oklahoma City Thunder and 33-5 Cleveland Cavaliers are both on track for win totals in the high 60s this year, rare air in NBA history. “Which isn’t great, but look at — it sounds like a morgue in here. And that’s how it should be.”
This has been a recurrent thread among the Celtics of late. The team has had some surprisingly lackluster losses during this recent stretch of games, but Boston is taking each defeat seriously. The team is getting the best shot from the opposition on most nights, as the current king of the league — but that doesn't mean it's happy to lose.
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