Boston Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Faces Flak For Trying To Block Royce O’Neale’s Shot – News18

The Boston Celtics defeated the Phoenix Suns on Thursday to extend their winning streak and they are currently leading the Eastern Conference standings. Joe Mazzulla, the coach of the Celtics, made an unusual in-game decision that has gained a lot of attention. Jaylen Brown, a star player for the Celtics, intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter and raced the other way for a spectacular slam.

After the whistle for a timeout due to a turnover, Suns’ Royce O’Neale tried to shoot the ball. Mazzulla was close to O’Neale when he began to walk onto the floor following Frank Vogel signalled an end to the proceedings on the opposite end with three minutes remaining in Boston’s 127-112 victory over the Suns. The whistle was blown, but the Suns forward, who had received an outlet pass, still wanted to get off a shot.

Mazzulla has achieved a certain reputation for going viral during his stint as the coach of the Boston Celtics, in which he is yet to finish two full seasons. Mazzulla has a lot of memorable moments, ranging from his unabashed passion for jiu-jitsu to watching the Boston-based heist movie The Town four times a week to give himself a “Boston mindset.”⁠ Though the incident with O’Neale might top everything else.

“I saw a guy going in to try to get a shot, and he hadn’t made one. And I didn’t want him to feel good about himself going to the bench,” Mazzulla said, as per The Athletic.

“[Boston Globe writer] Gary [Washburn] asked me about that a month ago, and that’s a bench rule. Guys don’t shoot shots in front of our bench to go back to their bench to feel good about themselves. If I’m gonna ask the guys to contest, the staff’s gotta do the same,” he added.

The incident did not go down well with NBA legend Charles Barkley who stated that O’Neale could have been injured. “I would’ve knocked the hell out of him. I’m not gonna lie. I would’ve hit him … I’ll tell you why I don’t like it. What if he stepped on his ankle and hurt himself badly? He can’t do that. Come on, man,” he said on TNT’s ‘NBA on TNT’, as per Sportskeeda.

Jaylen Brown was the star performer of the fixture as he registered a game-high 37 points, including five 3-pointers. For the Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker scored 23 points in the game.