The Boston Celtics have defeated most of their opponents with ease during this season.
However, even the Celtics are bound to lose a few games throughout the course of the regular season.
The organization may have held the first seed in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the campaign, but they were recently defeated in a close affair by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It was a close affair, with Dean Wade taking over the fourth quarter of the game to lead the Cavaliers to a 105-104 win over the Celtics.
During the postgame conference, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla shared his honest reaction to the defeat via Celtics on NBC Sports Boston on Twitter.
“We got to go faster there, but I thought Dean Wade got the matchup we wanted him to, we just got to play a little bit faster,” Mazzulla said.
Joe Mazzulla gives his reaction to final seconds of Celtics’ loss to Cavaliers… pic.twitter.com/OA2FOaqe8c
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 6, 2024
The final 19.1 seconds played a crucial role in the Celtics’ defeat against the Cavaliers side that lacked Donovan Mitchell and Max Strus during the matchup.
Joe Mazzulla blamed the lack of urgency from his players for the one-point defeat vs. the Cavaliers.
After all, the Celtics had the possession for the final play of the game, but rather than launch a quick shot, the team decided to play it slow, with Jayson Tatum taking the last shot.
The strategy failed as the initial foul call on Tatum’s final shot was reversed, and the Cavaliers ended the Celtics’ 11-game winning streak.
Mazzulla also mentioned that he tried to call a timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining on the clock.
However, the Celtics head coach’s plea was missed by the referees as the play continued and the team dropped to a 48-13 record in the 2023-24 NBA season.
NEXT:
Jayson Tatum Reacts To Celtics’ Loss To Cavs
