Sam Hauser Defends Joe Mazzulla’s Challenge Call In Celtics Win Vs. Raptors

The Boston Celtics handed the Toronto Raptors their fifth loss of the season on Saturday night with a 117-94 blowout victory.

However, the storyline of the game went past the final score when Raptors point guard Dennis Schröder called out Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla for challenging a call late in the game. Mazzulla showed no remorse in his decision to use a coach’s challenge on a possession call with the game already out of reach.

“They just thought that it was, I don’t know if it was, like, disrespectful or cheap to challenge in that situation,” Mazzulla said following the win, per team-provided video. “I don’t really agree or disagree. I think at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first. And, you know, having respect for the game, we’ve been in that situation before where we don’t shoot the last shot. We let the clock go out, we do that all the time.”

Mazzulla added: “But with three and a half minutes to go when you have a group of guys that check-in and they’re playing as hard as they can, I think it’s my responsibility to my players first and it was a clear opportunity for me to empower the players. … I’ll always put them first.”

While Raptors players may have been incised, the Celtics bench players were impressed with Mazzulla’s resolve.

“I’m not (surprised). Honestly, I’m not because he treats those minutes as the other minutes of the game,” Sam Hauser said following the game, per team-provided video. “Doesn’t matter who’s in the game. He treats it like it really matters and I think that’s important to all of us too. If we’re out there, we want him to have our backs and he does that.”

While some of the Raptors players chirped Mazzulla for his decision to challenge the call with the Celtics leading by 27 with 3:39 left to play in the game, Hauser said the bench boss made an impression on him and his teammates.

“I think it shows that he really cares from one (player) to (all) 18,” Hauser explained. “I think he’s done a great job with that this year.”

The Celtics tip off against the Raptors on Friday night when they travel north of the border at Scotiabank Arena. To add fuel to the rivalry, the game between Boston and Toronto is part of the NBA In-Season Tournament. The Celtics won their opening game against the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 10 while this is the first game for the Raptors.