Why Caleb Martin-Jayson Tatum Collision ‘Excited’ Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla

The Boston Celtics fan base held their collective breath when Jayson Tatum crashed awkwardly to the floor late in Boston’s Game 1 win Sunday.

They could see Boston’s NBA title aspirations taking a massive hit after Miami Heat forward Caleb Martin upended Tatum while going for an offensive rebound with a minute left and the Celtics on cruise control to a 114-94 win at TD Garden.

But Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had quite the opposite reaction to the play. He never seemed worried and liked everything he saw once it was clear Tatum avoided a serious injury.

Tatum rose quickly to his feet, unaffected by his hard fall, and jogged down to the other end of the court to shoot free throws while star running mate Jaylen Brown came to his defense and got in the face of Martin. The two exchanged words before finally being separated.

“I was waiting to see what (Tatum) was going to do,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters. “I was kind of excited about the whole situation. I enjoyed watching it.”

Mazzulla also enjoyed watching Tatum, who downplayed the incident with Martin, when he was upright as the Celtics star notched his first career triple-double in the playoffs.

Tatum finished with a team-high 23 points despite shooting 1-for-8 from 3-point range to go along with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Half of his assists came in the first quarter as the Celtics raced out to a 14-0 lead to set the tone.

“His mindset and approach throughout the game was great,” Mazzulla told reporters, per league-provided video. “I thought he played with great patience. I thought he picked and chose his spots very well. I thought he took what the defense gave him and found the balance of creating for himself and creating for others. So, to fight for that discipline on the offensive end — on both ends of the floor, really — is a huge key to the series.”