Joe Mazzulla Defends Personal Timeout Stance In Celtics’ Overtime Loss

In an overtime battle against the league’s best defense, the Boston Celtics dropped their first game of the season on Monday night to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Celtics snapped a five-game winning streak to open the season.

Down the stretch in Minnesota, head coach Joe Mazzulla neglected a timeout and allowed the Celtics to run through the offense in real-time. Jaylen Brown got a good look for a game-winner at the end of the fourth quarter, but his shot hit the rim and sent the contest to overtime.

In his first season at the helm a year ago, Mazzulla stood by this philosophy, favoring momentum instead of taking a chance for a set look out of a timeout. After the season’s first loss for the Celtics, Mazzulla stuck to his roots once again.

“We like to save our timeouts to have two under, which allowed for a two-for-one in the fourth quarter or overtime,” Mazzulla told reporters after the loss, per NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Either way, it’s a five-point game. We managed it well. … I didn’t think about that. You just have to be able to fight to take away tendencies.”

Ultimately, the Celtics fell to a talented Timberwolves squad behind a star performance from Anthony Edwards with 38 points. Mazzulla appreciated the high-level contest between two quality teams.

“I thought it was a hell of a game,” Mazzulla added. “It was a lot of fun. It was very competitive. Our opponents are always going to bring the best out of us. I thought we competed at a high level.”

The Celtics get a big Eastern Conference test against a fellow 5-1 team in the 76ers on Wednesday night in Philadelphia.