If there are unwritten NBA rules regarding sportsmanship in blowouts, the Boston Celtics do not follow them.
With 3:39 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Celtics leading by 27, head coach Joe Mazzulla challenged an out-of-bounds call that had gone against Boston. To be fair, he was correct, and the decision was reversed after a brief delay.
However, the Toronto Raptors were not pleased.
Darko Rajakovi, the Raptors’ coach, made his feelings known during the game, walking over to Mazzulla to confront the Celtics’ coach as the review was taking place.
By that point, both teams had depleted their benches and, with the exception of Mazzulla, were simply trying to finish the game as quickly as possible. But for Mazzulla, it was an opportunity to show his bench players that he will still coach them even when the game is out of hand.
“I think my responsibility is to my players first and it was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players, let them know that I’m coaching you and those minutes to me are just as important as the start of the game,” he told reporters after the game.
When asked about the incident after the game, Rajakovi responded with a “no comment,” refusing to discuss his altercation with Mazzulla.
Jakob Poeltl stated that he was unconcerned about the challenge, but admitted that if he had been in Mazzulla’s shoes, he would not have challenged the call.
Dennis Schröder, a former Celtic who played under Mazzulla as an assistant coach for Boston in 2021-22, was the most outraged by the decision.
“You’re not supposed to challenge anything up 30.” “You won with three minutes remaining,” he told Gary Washburn. “You shouldn’t disrespect us like that.”
The teams will meet again soon, as the Celtics travel to Toronto on Friday night for a game at Scotiabank Arena.
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