Joe Mazzulla Responds to the Celtics’ Cavaliers Loss

This season, the Boston Celtics have easily defeated the majority of their opponents.

Even the Celtics, though, will inevitably drop a few games during the regular season.

Though they may have started the season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers recently defeated the team in a close game.

It was a close game, with Dean Wade leading the Cavaliers to a 105-104 victory over the Celtics in the fourth quarter.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla responded candidly to the loss on Twitter at the team’s postgame press conference, as reported by Celtics on NBC Sports Boston.

We got to go faster there, but I thought Dean Wade got the matchup we wanted him to, we just got to play a little bit faster,” Mazzulla said.

Joe Mazzulla gives his reaction to final seconds of Celtics' loss to Cavaliers… pic.twitter.com/OA2FOaqe8c

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 6, 2024

 

The Boston Celtics have defeated most of their opponents with ease during this season.

However, even the Celtics are bound to lose a few games throughout the course of the regular season.

The organization may have held the first seed in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the campaign, but they were recently defeated in a close affair by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It was a close affair, with Dean Wade taking over the fourth quarter of the game to lead the Cavaliers to a 105-104 win over the Celtics.

During the postgame conference, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla shared his honest reaction to the defeat via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston on Twitter.

“We got to go faster there, but I thought Dean Wade got the matchup we wanted him to, we just got to play a little bit faster,” Mazzulla said.

The final 19.1 seconds played a crucial role in the Celtics’ defeat against the Cavaliers side that lacked Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus during the matchup.

Joe Mazzulla blamed the lack of urgency from his players for the one-point defeat vs. the Cavaliers.

After all, the Celtics had the possession for the final play of the game, but rather than launch a quick shot, the team decided to play it slow, with Jayson Tatum taking the last shot.

The strategy failed as the initial foul call on Tatum’s final shot was reversed, and the Cavaliers ended the Celtics’ 11-game winning streak.

Mazzulla also mentioned that he tried to call a timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining on the clock.