Joe Mazzulla shows troubling pattern after Celtics collapse to 76ers | Brian Robb

Late-game mismanagement in Game 4 loss to Philadelphia: The Celtics lost to the Sixers in Game 4 without getting a shot off on the final possession of overtime despite having the ball for the final 17 seconds of the game. Mazzulla didn’t call a timeout in this sequence as Boston’s offense simply stalled after pushing the ball following a rebound. Jayson Tatum ended up dribbling out most of the clock before passing off to Marcus Smart for a 3-point attempt that he was unable to get off before time expired. Mazzulla did not admit not calling a timeout was a mistake until the next day.

Marcus Smart calls out Mazzulla for taking too long to make a lineup change after Game 6 vs. Philadelphia: With Boston facing elimination against the 76ers, Mazzulla shifted back to a double-big starting lineup (Al Horford, Robert Williams) that had been essential in leading the team to the 2022 NBA Finals. Smart was blunt about the move after the game. “That just goes to show Joe is learning, just like all of us. I know he’s been killed a lot -- rightfully so,” Smart said. “You know, he needs to make some adjustments. And he did that,”

2025

• Celtics beat Magic 4-1
• Knicks beat Celtics 4-2

Series odds: The Celtics were -800 favorites to win the series against the Knicks before Game 1.

Notable Mazzulla decisions

Sticking with Kristaps Porzingis: The veteran big man dealt with a mysterious illness that severely hampered his play for the entire final two months of the season. Despite those struggles, Mazzulla played him all six games against the Knicks where he averaged 4.2 points and shot 24 percent from the field, instead of turning more to viable alternatives like Luke Kornet or Neemias Queta.

Game 1 late-game mismanagement vs. New York: The Celtics held two timeouts while trailing by three points in the final 17 seconds of overtime in Game 1. However, the Celtics coach watched his team waste 14 seconds before the Knicks gave a foul, eliminating any chance they would get multiple opportunities to score in the closing seconds. Jaylen Brown failed to get a shot up on the ensuing inbounds, leading to a 108-105 loss.

Game 2 late-game mismanagement vs. New York: The Celtics had a chance to win the game with 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter after Jalen Brunson sank two go-ahead free throws. Trailing by a point, most NBA teams would use a timeout to advance the ball to half court, saving precious seconds on the clock. Instead, Mazzulla opted again to forgo a timeout and turn to his struggling All-Star to recreate the successful coast-to-coast finish on his previous possession. The Knicks read the play and kept Tatum from getting up a shot, squeaking out a 91-90 Game 2 win.

Overreliance on 3-pointers: The Celtics took 52.9 percent of their shot attempts from 3-point range in the series, 6 percentage points higher than any other playoff team that qualified for the second round. Boston shot a combined 25-of-100 from 3-point range in Games 1 and 2, a massive factor in the team blowing 20-point leads in the second half of both home losses.

2026

• 76ers beat Celtics 4-3

Series odds: Celtics were -1000 favorites to beat the 76ers before Game 1

Notable Mazzulla decisions

Getting back to extreme 3-point habits: After reducing the team’s 3-point rate in the regular season (46.7 percent), that number jumped again for the Sixers series back up to 52.5 percent. Boston shot 46 3-point attempts per game in the series loss, 6.8 attempts higher than the next highest volume team in the playoffs (Thunder). Boston shot just 33 percent from downtown in the series including 26.5 percent in a series deciding Game 7.

Delayed personnel adjustments: Mazzulla has been slow to react during the postseason when it comes to personnel changes and the Sixers series was no different. He stuck with Nikola Vucevic for far too long once Joel Embiid came back before ultimately benching him in Game 7. Small ball options were nowhere to be found even when Embiid was sidelined. Mazzulla also declined to mix and match much with his wing personnel until Game 7, despite the fact his offense struggled for much of the series. Baylor Scheierman didn’t play more than 15 minutes in a game before Game 7 despite his strong shooting and Hugo Gonzalez never even sniffed the court in meaningful minutes before the second quarter of Game 7. Like Smart three years ago, Jaylen Brown openly lamented his coach going away from his regular season uptempo style for the first six games of the series.

“This group is a special group,” Brown said Sunday on his Twitch stream. “I’m so proud of this group and the way we played. I wish we trusted that style of play a little bit more but I know playoffs kind of shifted our rotations and what we wanted to do.”

A baffling starting lineup choice in Game 7: Despite having several successful lineups to choose from during the team’s regular season play without Jayson Tatum, Mazzulla opted to go extreme in Game 7, giving Ron Harper Jr., Luka Garza and Baylor Scheierman starts alongside Derrick White and Jaylen Brown. Inserting Scheierman for Sam Hauser was entirely defensible but the other shifts were radical. Harper Jr. was a two-way player before the final week of the season and Garza had never started ahead of Neemias Queta while healthy all year. The group had never played a minute together all season long and played like it, falling into an 11-3 hole before Mazzulla mercifully pulled the plug on the unit 4 minutes into the game.

Final Thoughts

Needless to say, his job remains very safe for the time being despite these recent playoff struggles.

However as Brad Stevens plans to get this group back towards contending this offseason, he’s going to need more from Mazzulla in these postseason moments. Whether it’s personnel missteps or questionable strategic decisions, Mazzulla has not taken the postseason leap many hoped would be coming after a 2024 championship win. His 2023 postseason shortcomings can be easily explained as a rookie coach being thrust into a challenging role on short notice. However, that’s no longer an excuse after year four in Boston.

In 2025-26, he showed plenty of promising growth during the regular season in maximizing a flawed roster and pushing the right buttons with play style and personnel. However, Boston’s offense regressed again when it mattered most as Mazzulla went away from a lot of the things that made this team successful in the first place until it was too late.

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