Joe Mazzulla was clearly in no mood to speak after his team failed to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit, but he could’ve handled himself much better than he did after the game.
Following the Celtics’ season-ending loss to the Heat, head coach Joe Mazzulla spoke to Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston and he sounded like a man who wanted to do anything but speak to her at that moment.
“They played better than we did,” Mazzulla replied when asked what happened. “Our guys gave everything they had and that’s the most important thing.”
When asked to share his message to the locker room. He responded, “I love them.”
Some thought he was rude.
“I absolutely despise the fact that Joe Mazzulla was rude and terse with Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston. She’s there to do a job and Mazzulla being a prick in the way he answers her doesn’t do him any sort of good,” Shukri Wrights tweeted.
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The Celtics followed up their worst 3-point shooting game of the season in Game 6 by shooting 9-for-42 in Game 7 to equal their second-worst shooting performance of the season.
In the meantime, the team watched helplessly as Caleb Martin continued his series-long assault on the Celtics’ defense, going 11-for-16 and scoring 26 points, while Eastern Conference finals MVP Jimmy Butler contributed 28 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.
After taking an early 9-4 lead, Boston never got closer than that 7-point margin the rest of the game.
Jaylen Brown had a game to forget as he finished with 19 points on 8-for-23 shooting to go along with 8 turnovers. Now, the Celtics head into the offseason after falling short of a return trip to the NBA Finals, and the team they showcased over the past few years might look quite different come next season.
Brown is eligible to sign a five-year, $295 million supermax extension this summer after making second-team All-NBA, but the Celtics may be reluctant to give him that after his lackluster performance.
