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On December 27, the Boston Celtics overcame the Houston Rockets, despite head coach Joe Mazzulla being ruled out shortly before tip-off due to eye irritation.
Speaking to the media following the game, Jayson Tatum joked that there was one significant difference without Mazzulla patrolling the sidelines.
“The only difference was, Joe wasn’t over there chewing the s*** out some gum. But, we’re professionals, and we know what essentially we’re supposed to do. The coaches definitely help us out with managing the game, but I think we’ve been doing this a while that we should be able to execute from shoot around this morning, the game plan, just playing the right way,” Tatum said.
Tatum continued his excellent start to the season as the Celtics overcame the ROckets, providing his team with 38 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block while shooting 48% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
The Celtics have now won their last three games and have begun to show the high-level offense that we saw from them to begin the season, allowing them to put their mini-slump directly in the rear-view mirror.
Jayson Tatum Sounds Off on Jaylen Brown Partnership
During the December 27 contest, Tatum and Jaylen Brown both put up more the 30 points, in what is becoming a regular occurrence for the Celtics this season, and is helping them generate significant leads over their opponents.
When speaking to the media following the game, Tatum reminded those in attendance that just one year ago, we were all speaking about the need to trade one of Boston’s star wings.
“It’s crazy, you know, this time last year, y’all wanted to trade either one of us, and now, you just said Mike (Jordan) and Scottie (Pippen). So, we’re not as bad as you guys say we are, but we’re not as good as Michael and Scottie yet. We’re just two young guys that love to compete, love to try to help our team win every night… but you know, we gotta win. We gotta win when it counts most,” Tatum said.
Brown ended the contest with 39 points, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 1 rebound while shooting 53.8% from the field and 40% from the perimeter.
Joe Mazzulla Ruled Out of Rockets Game
Shortly before tip-off, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe revealed that Joe Mazzulla would not be coaching against the Rockets due to eye irritation which was visible during Mazzulla’s pre-game press conference.
“#Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla will NOT coach this evening because of eye irritation. (He was squinting badly during his pre-game media session). Damon Stoudamire will coach in his place. #Rockets,” Washburn tweeted.