Joe Mazzulla Embraces Fiery Display From Celtics Star Jayson Tatum

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla sure would have liked to have had Jayson Tatum at his disposal for the fourth quarter Friday night in a tight game against the Philadelphia 76ers.

But Tatum was forced to watch the final 12 minutes of the contest from the locker room after getting ejected with 2.1 seconds left in the third quarter for arguing a loose ball foul.

Mazzulla didn’t scold Tatum for his actions, though. Actually, it was quite the opposite with Mazzulla applauding the Celtics star for what ended up being a fiery display — Tatum had to be held back by assistant coach Charles Lee once getting tossed.

Despite Tatum hamstringing the Celtics, who ended up walking off the TD Garden parquet with a 125-119 win over the 76ers, Mazzulla had no issue with the emotions boiling over in the moment for his team’s best player.

“I actually like seeing that,” Mazzulla told reporters. “I think some of that is important. Obviously, you don’t want it to get in the way of winning. I think that type of passion and caring about it, err on the side of I’d rather see that than nothing at all. Sometimes, just pick and choose your spots. I’m not going to say anything to him.”

Picking up technical fouls for barking at officials isn’t a new endeavor for Tatum. He’s done a better job at keeping it in check this season and was “shocked” to receive an ejection against the 76ers.

Mazzulla was asked if he needed to talk to Tatum about the incident to try to prevent it from happening again, but he didn’t have any message for the four-time All-Star.

“Smiled, gave him a hug, laughed it off,” Mazzulla said.