The Raptors took exception to a late-game decision made by Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla in Boston’s 117-94 victory over Toronto on Saturday night at TD Garden.
Mazzulla used a coach’s challenge in the fourth quarter while also leading the Raptors by 27 points with 3:39 minutes left to play. That blew a gasket in Toronto’s bench as several Raptors players approached Mazzulla angrily for what they felt was a disrespectful move to pull during a blowout C’s win.
“Up 30 you’re not supposed to challenge nothing,” Raptors guard Dennis Schröder told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe postgame. “You won, it’s three minutes left. You shouldn’t disrespect us like that.”
Schröder, who previously played for the Celtics, finished with 14 points and four assists in the loss, which dropped Toronto to 4-5 in the early season.
The decision by Mazzulla to challenge a close possession play had no impact on the game, therefore, labeling the move as “disrespect” is quite a stretch.
Understandably so, Mazzulla treated an NBA game like an NBA game. Whether the starters or reserves are out on the floor, the second-year head coach sees no reason to approach the game any differently, and if Toronto takes issue with that, polishing its 38.5 shooting from the field — to Boston’s 54.7 — would be a step in the right direction.
“I don’t really agree or disagree,” Mazzulla told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “I think at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my players first. And, you know, having respect for the game, we’ve been in that situation before where we don’t shoot the last shot. We let the clock go out, we do that all the time.”