Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla Yanks Guys From Game For This Mistake

It’s only preseason, but Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is coaching with urgency. Mazzulla’s Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 138-107 on Sunday. Boston improved to 2-1 in the games that don’t count. Anfernee Simons starred for his new team, dropping 21 points on 6-of-9 from downtown.

Josh Minott was another strong performer, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.

Mazzulla had to be happy with some of his new players, but one thing he certainly wasn’t happy about was the Celtics allowing offensive rebounds. And it doesn’t sound like Mazzulla will be happy about that at any point in the future.

Mazzulla was actually yanking any player from the game on Sunday who allowed an offensive rebound, according The Athletic’s Jay King.

NEW STORY: During Sunday’s preseason win, Joe Mazzulla regularly pulled Celtics players after they gave up OREBs. The tactic left an impression on Luka Garza, one of the players yanked.

“I think he’s just holding us to a standard. And it’s a mindset thing. It’s more than any…

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) October 13, 2025

The Celtics and their center-by-committee frontcourt are expected to be a sub-par rebounding team, and Mazzulla is trying to prevent that.

It does help that Boston’s guards are good rebounders. Derrick White finished Sunday with seven boards in just 22 minutes. Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown each snagged five in less than 25 minutes.

Boston started Chris Boucher at center on Sunday. He’s averagd 5.1 rebounds per game in his career, but that number goes up to 10.4 when you adjust to a per-36-minutes scale.

The Celtics will continue their preseason on Wednesday when they host the Toronto Raptors.