Celtics Lucky To Survive Game They ‘Didn’t Deserve To Win’ Against Grizzlies

The Boston Celtics squeaked out a 102-100 win over the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.

After the game, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters that he didn't believe Boston took Memphis lightly but definitely didn't play their best game.

"We got lucky to win that game," Mazulla said, as seen on NBC Sports Boston's postgame coverage. "We talk about both ... you can win from losses. You can learn from losses. You can learn from wins and sometimes you're okay with a loss because you did some right things and sometimes you're pissed because you didn't deserve to win and I didn't think we deserved to win the game."

The Celtics and Grizzlies played a tight game throughout which saw seven ties and 18 lead changes and a chaotic final minute that sealed the victory for Boston.

"Credit to the Grizzlies for the way they play," Mazzulla said. "I thought they just outplayed us at times."

Even though the Celtics played sloppy at times, Mazzulla said playing games like this is actually good for a team to go through.

"I think you have to go through stuff," Mazzulla explained. "I can't have the expectation of perfection that we're always going to play well. It's just not reality."

Mazzulla continued: "There's 82 of these things. Doesn't mean I'm not happy. I'm not happy about it. ... But I understand that it's going to happen. That's just building basketball character. ... It's easy to say you want to be a certain type of team and then it just gets harder and harder to live like that. The standard is very high for us. The guys in the locker room set a high standard for themselves and we're not always going to meet it."

The Celtics are right back in action on Monday night when they close out their four-game road trip against the Charlotte Hornets.