On December 13, following the Boston Celtics’ overtime victory against the Los Angeles Lakers, Jaylen Brown revealed how head coach Joe Mazzulla had set the tone heading into the contest.
“[Joe Mazzulla] set the tone for us and told us we need to get our s**t together”
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“Joe came in before the game and set the tone for us, told us that we needed to get our s*** together. We started out the game great. I think we got off to a great start, were moving the ball. We got a little stagnant in the third quarter…We were down eight points, ten points, in the fourth quarter and was still able to come back and win. So that’s a tough and perfect way to close out the road trip,” Brown said.
Heading into their game against the Lakers, Boston was on a two-game slide, having lost to both the Golden State Warriors and LA Clippers within the past week, so it makes sense that Boston’s head coach would look to hold his players accountable before they took to the court against the team’s most fierce rival.
Jayson Tatum Admits Mazzulla Called Him Out
During his post-game press conference following his 44-point night against the Lakers, Tatum confirmed that Mazzulla had pinpointed Tatum as the first in line to receive some blunt criticism before turning his attention ‘down the line.’
Jayson Tatum spoke on Joe Mazzulla “calling him out” and how it motivated his play #BleedGreen
“Yeah, that’s exactly what he said. He pointed me out, basically told me that it starts with me, you know, last game I played like s***, and he basically told me that. Told me that, the way I play, the rest of the guys are gonna follow. And, he went down the line, went down to JB, went down to Smart, you know, said it’s our responsibility,” Tatum said.
Tatum, who had struggled throughout his previous two games, ended up rising to the occasion, helping his team with an impressive statline of 44 points, nine rebounds, and six assists on 51.7% shooting from the field and 50% shooting from beyond the three-point line.
Kendrick Perkins Sounded Off on Tatum’s Mindset
When the Celtics fell to defeat against the Warriors on December 10, it was arguably Tatum’s worst game of the season, yet during his post-game press conference, he noted how the contest probably meant more to the media than it did to him as it was just one game.
During a December 12 episode of ESPN’s NBA Today, Kendrick Perkins revealed how he took issue with Tatum’s comments and implored the MVP candidate to become more aggressive moving forward.
“You know what? It’s one thing to have a bad shooting night; everybody goes through that. But to not have it on your mind to come out here and just be pure dominant without Andrew Wiggins being on the floor. From Jayson Tatum talking about how miserable his off-season was because of the way he performed in the finals to him actually going to a post-game interview and saying this game was more meaningful to the fans and the media than it was to him, it made my skin crawl…The narrative is always going to be, until he plays against Golden State again this season, is that no matter what else he does, they’re going to say, ‘oh you don’t go that against Golden State,’ and you wanna get that monkey off your back, and I was just expecting more out of him, from just all aspects of the game, and he didn’t deliver,” Perkins said.
One would hope that Tatum’s dominant performance against the Lakers would have appeased Perkins and proved his ability to remain composed while still taking the game by the scruff of the neck and leading his team to victory.
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Joe Mazzulla Let Rip on Celtics Stars: “Played Like S***”