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Joe Mazzulla Gives Interesting Reason for Purposeful Technical Foul in Celtics' Win

It's just Mazzulla being Mazzulla.

Mike Kadlick

Mazzulla was called for a technical in the third quarter of Friday night's game.
Mazzulla was called for a technical in the third quarter of Friday night's game. / David Butler II-Imagn Images
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Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was called for a technical foul in the third quarter of Friday night's win over the Washington Wizards.

The foul, seen below, was assessed to Mazzulla as he was being held back from referees by assistant coaches Tony Dobbins and Sam Cassell. The 36-year-old was upset after a no-call on a Jaylen Brown layup attempt.

According to Mazzulla, he got the foul on purpose.

"I mean it changed the energy in the arena, did you feel that?" he answered when asked what he was frustrated about. "It wasn't really about energizing the team, I think it was just manipulating the environment. I thought it was kind of what the environment needed at the time.

"You just have to, you know, make those calls from time to time," Mazzulla continued. "I thought the team was—you know we were playing pretty good. It wasn't like I needed to do that, but I felt like it was a way to manipulate the environment."

Well, manipulate the environment it did. Down 66-63 at the time, Boston went on a 13-4 run following the technical before pulling away for a 108-96 win.

The Celtics, now 13-3, are headed back home for a matchup Sunday with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at T.D. Garden.

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Mike Kadlick
MIKE KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the New England Patriots for WEEI sports radio in Boston and continues to do so for CLNS Media. He has a master's in public relations from Boston University. Kadlick is also an avid runner and a proud lover of all things pizza.

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