Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla usually wears the same calm expression on his face throughout the C's games, regardless of how they are playing. But that doesn't mean he's one to back down in a confrontation. Early in Boston's 97-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors, Mazzulla seemed ready for all the smoke after Raptors big man Chris Boucher bumped into him.
Lmaoo Coach Mazzulla has that dawg in him pic.twitter.com/GMldzsVyXW
— Pull up shoot (@NElGHT_) April 6, 2023
Although center Robert Williams III had to hold Mazzulla back from doing anything rash, the first-year Celtics coach tried to downplay the incident:
“I wasn’t irritated, I just got bumped and was trying to figure out what happened,” Mazzulla said, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “I gotta be more aware of my surroundings.”
Ultimately, Joe Mazzulla and the C's had the last laugh, as Boston squeaked out a win without Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, or Marcus Smart playing. Plus, Boucher played just 11 minutes and scored an insignificant two points on the night.
These two teams will meet again on Friday night at TD Garden, and there's even a slim chance that they could meet up in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs.
The Celtics are locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference after last night's action, meaning they'll face whoever emerges from the Play-In Tournament as the seventh seed. If the season ended today, Boston would face either the Miami Heat or the Atlanta Hawks, yet the Raptors could still jump up to the eighth seed.
Celtics win, Bucks win…
The top five in the East are locked.
1 – Milwaukee
2 – BOSTON
3 – Philadelphia
4 – Cleveland
5 – New YorkBrooklyn magic # of 1 to be #6.
High probability know of Heat-Hawks in Miami Tuesday as the 7 vs 8 play-in, winner to Boston in round one.
— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) April 6, 2023
They'll need a little bit of luck though, as the Raptors have to win their remaining two games and have Atlanta lose its next two games. The Hawks take on the Sixers and the Celtics to finish the season: two teams that do not have much incentive to play their starters. Regardless of what happens, the C's are back in the playoffs and ready for anything with their scrappy coach in Joe Mazzulla at the helm.
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