Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla missed his first game of the season on Tuesday due to eye irritation. Mazzulla was a late scratch for Tuesday's game as the team waited until 10 minutes before tipoff to announce that he'd sit out. Celtics assistant coach Damon Stoudamire coached the team in his place and led them to a decisive 126-102 win over the Houston Rockets.
Next up, the Celtics will play the Clippers Thursday to wrap up their homestand, but according to a recent injury update, they could be without their head coach once again.
The Celtics have ruled Mazzulla as questionable for Thursday's game with corneal abrasions that he sustained during a pickup game, per a tweet from The Athletic's Jay King. Additionally, Mazzulla was not at shootaround with the team on Thursday morning, which hints at the notion that he's still feeling a bit under the weather.
Mazzulla, 34, is in his first year as head coach of the Celtics and is currently the youngest head coach in all of basketball. He began his coaching tenure with the organization back in 2019 when the Cs hired him to be an assistant coach under Brad Stevens. Before his time with the Celtics, Mazzulla earned his stripes serving as an assistant coach with what is now the Maine Celtics — Boston's G-League affiliate — as well as a head coach for Fairmont State's men's team, a Division II basketball program.
Here's to hoping that Mazzulla's eye injury isn't serious and he'll be able to make his return to the sidelines Thursday.
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