Interim head coach Joe Mazzulla was back on the Celtics‘ bench Sunday night after missing two games with corneal abrasions, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Mazzulla was scratched in the eye while fighting for a rebound during a pickup game Tuesday at TD Garden.
It was difficult for him to see during a pre-game session with reporters that night, and he turned over the team to assistant coach Damon Stoudamire, who also handled Thursday’s win over the Clippers. Mazzulla called the injury a “freak accident” and said it won’t stop him from playing pickup basketball.
“I wasn’t getting any better,” Mazzulla said about his condition Tuesday. “In that situation I thought it was a good opportunity to empower and entrust the staff and I didn’t feel like I was at my best and I didn’t want to be a distraction. It was a great opportunity (for Damon). It says a lot about the culture we have in place. It ran itself. Our staff really stepped up. (Damon) did a great job. I’m really happy for him.”
There’s more on the Celtics:
- Sunday’s loss at Denver included a 40-minute delay in the fourth quarter after Robert Williams bent the rim on a dunk (video link). Jaylen Brown was critical of how the incident was handled, saying there was “no communication” with players, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. “Spent all that time trying to fix it. But when we came back, it still looked like it wasn’t even level, in my opinion,” Brown said. “So we just wasted all that time that has an effect on the game. That’s how injuries and stuff happen. Luckily, they didn’t. But that wasn’t good. That whole process was handled poorly, in my opinion, and that had an effect on the game as well. Luckily, nobody got hurt.”
- Brown brushed aside a fourth quarter altercation with Nuggets guard Bones Hyland, according to Brian Robb of MassLive. The players got tangled up when Brown fouled Hyland on a drive to the basket, and Hyland responded by pushing Brown to the floor. Brown got up and challenged Hyland before officials and teammates separated them. Both players received technical fouls, but they shook hands afterward. “It was just two guys being competitive,” Brown said. “Wasn’t no smoke behind it.”
- The Celtics aren’t likely to trade Payton Pritchard before the February 9 deadline, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe states in a prediction column for the new year. He says Pritchard still has value to the team because he’s only 24 and would be needed in the event of a backcourt injury. Himmelsbach predicts a quiet deadline for Boston, which already parted with next year’s first-round pick in the Malcolm Brogdon trade. He also expects Noah Vonleh to be waived this week before his salary becomes fully guaranteed.