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Joe Mazzulla Gives Interesting Reason for Purposeful Technical Foul in Celtics' Win

It's just Mazzulla being Mazzulla.
Michael Kadlick|
Mazzulla was called for a technical in the third quarter of Friday night's game.
Mazzulla was called for a technical in the third quarter of Friday night's game. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

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Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was called for a technical foul in the third quarter of Friday night's win over the Washington Wizards.

The foul, seen below, was assessed to Mazzulla as he was being held back from referees by assistant coaches Tony Dobbins and Sam Cassell. The 36-year-old was upset after a no-call on a Jaylen Brown layup attempt.

According to Mazzulla, he got the foul on purpose.

"I mean it changed the energy in the arena, did you feel that?" he answered when asked what he was frustrated about. "It wasn't really about energizing the team, I think it was just manipulating the environment. I thought it was kind of what the environment needed at the time.

"You just have to, you know, make those calls from time to time," Mazzulla continued. "I thought the team was—you know we were playing pretty good. It wasn't like I needed to do that, but I felt like it was a way to manipulate the environment."

Well, manipulate the environment it did. Down 66-63 at the time, Boston went on a 13-4 run following the technical before pulling away for a 108-96 win.

The Celtics, now 13-3, are headed back home for a matchup Sunday with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at T.D. Garden.

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Mike Kadlick
MICHAEL KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.

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