Joe Mazzulla Takes Blame for Celtics Getting Blown Out in Game 3 of Eastern Conference Finals: 'I Have to be Better'

Game 3's 128-102 loss was a collective failure that put the Celtics on the brink of elimination.

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How big of a slice of the blame pie does Joe Mazzulla deserve for the Celtics being down 3-0 to the Heat?

At 34, he's the youngest active head coach in the NBA. And the intention wasn't for him to go from sitting behind the bench a season ago to being at the helm of a title contender until about a week before training camp started.

And losing Will Hardy and Damon Stoudamire, who went from being top assistants in Boston to head coaches with the Utah Jazz and the Georgia Tech men's basketball program, respectively, are losses felt most in the playoffs.

That's especially true in this series, with Mazzulla's counterpart being Erik Spoelstra, widely considered the best head coach in the NBA, including by this author.

Spoelstra's zone defense has shielded his weakest defenders and often slowed the Celtics. Granted, they consistently failed to capitalize on quality long-range looks in their 128-102 loss in Game 3, finishing 11/42 (26.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

It's worse that those misses from three-point range impacted the visitors' defense as Boston fed into its demise on Sunday, failing to stand up to a Miami offense that relentlessly attacked within possessions and from one play to the next.

That's on the players more than the coach, but whereas defense was unmistakably the backbone of last season's team, there's been a tilt toward three-point shooting dictating Boston's successes and failures this campaign.

Throughout a season that may only have one game left, this author's warned about the importance of maintaining a defense-first identity and that overemphasizing shooting, which is less reliable, is a losing proposition.

Post-game, Mazzulla acknowledged the defending Eastern Conference champions have lost some of their defensive identity, and "we have to get that back, and that's where part of that is on me to make sure we get that back."

He also expressed, "These last couple games, I think the execution, we're not connected. Usually, at our best, we're connected; we're together; we're physical on the defensive end, and we don't have that right now."

"I think some of that defensive identity has been lost... we're not connected."

Joe Mazzulla explains what's gone wrong for Boston in this series vs. the Heat pic.twitter.com/jBwuYLmGSf

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) May 22, 2023

Instead, the Celtics' lack of long-range success in Game 3 fed into Gabe Vincent torching them for 29 points, again struggling to deal with screening actions involving Duncan Robinson, who registered 22 points on 7/11 shooting and dished out four assists, and Caleb Martin's contributing 18 off the bench.

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There was an appalling lack of heart, fight, energy, or physicality, and it translated to going down as much as 33 points and waving the white flag after 36 minutes, leaving Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, among others, on the bench for the final frame.

"I just didn't have them ready to play," Mazzulla stated on the heels of Sunday's loss.

The first-year bench boss added, "I didn't have them execute the proper game plan, I didn't put them in the right mentality to be ready, and it's my job to make sure that they're connected and that they're ready to play, and I didn't do that."

Asked for more details, he conveyed, "You think you say what needs to be said, but at the same time, I have to be better. I've got to make sure when we step on that floor that we're ready to execute; we're ready to be physical; that we're ready to play harder than the other team, that's my job."

While it's admirable for the head coach to shoulder responsibility for what happened in Game 3, Tatum and Brown are All-NBA members playing in their fourth Eastern Conference Finals together in six years. They're playing a Heat team coached by Spoelstra and starring Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo for the third time.

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The players should also have done more to figure out how to avoid being down 3-0, especially when considering Boston added Malcolm Brogdon to a rotation that came within two wins of the NBA Finals last year.

The blame pie isn't solely Mazzulla's to eat, and the poor effort demonstrated Sunday, in a game the Celtics tapped out of in the third quarter, won't help wash down a collective failure that put the team in a hole likely too deep for it to dig out from.

Further Reading

Here's What Stood Out in Game 3 Loss to Heat: Celtics on Brink of Elimination After Worst Performance This Postseason

Celtics React to Letting 12-Point Lead Slip in Fourth Quarter of Game 2 Loss to Heat: 'We Let Everybody Down'

Grant Williams Reacts to Heated Altercation with Jimmy Butler

Here's What Stood Out in Game 2 Loss: Celtics Blow 12-Point Fourth-Quarter Lead, Go to Miami Down 0-2

Joe Mazzulla Reflects on Celtics' Latest Third-Quarter Letdown: 'We Have to Have the Understanding You Just Can't Relax'

Marcus Smart Defends Joe Mazzulla's Strategy After Game 1 Loss to Miami Heat

Celtics Discuss Heat Outscoring Them 46-25 in Third Quarter of Game 1: 'We Allowed Them to Do What They Wanted'

Celtics Address 'Letting Go of the Rope' After Game 1 Loss to Heat

Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Game 1 Loss: Heat's Third-Quarter Haymaker Propels Them to 1-0 Lead

Jaylen Brown Discusses Whether Making an All-NBA Team Provides Clarity About His Future