“That was sick”- Joe Mazzulla inadvertently infuriates Mavs fans with Derrick White block compliment

Basketball fans react to Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla calling Derrick White’s block against PJ Washington “sick.” [photo: Celtics X, Mazzulla IG]

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla called a timeout early in the fourth quarter after Daniel Gafford’s dunk cut the lead to 97-89. He asked for another ceasefire with 4:40 remaining in Game 2 to remind his players to keep up with their play on that end. Mazzulla told them that they needed to be prepared for Dallas’ last-ditch attempt to turn the game around.

Boston dropped a 6-0 run following that timeout to push its advantage to 103-89. Dallas, however, refused to quit and made the run Mazzulla predicted would come. Luka Doncic’s and-1 against Al Horford cut the deficit to 103-98 with 1:15 to go.

In the next play, Derrick Jones Jr. blocked Jayson Tatum’s shot, allowing the Mavericks to run in transition. Kyrie Irving found a streaking PJ Washington who was a few steps ahead of everybody. From out of nowhere, Derrick White came just in time to swat the shot as Jaylen Brown also arrived to do the same.

Joe Mazzulla said after the game that White’s game-sealing play was “sick.”

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Fans on X, formerly Twitter, promptly reacted to his comment:

“The refs help you a little today make sure to thank them”

One fan pointed out why Derrick White got the block:

“Show Jaylen brown fouling him before this”

Another fan gave what he thought was the reason Boston won the game:

“mavericks were the clear better team the only reason the celtics won was because they paid off the refs”

@SpidaBetter chimed in:

“What. A. Foul.”

The replay showed that Jaylen Brown seemed to have pushed PJ Washington in the back before Derrick White got the block. For Dallas Mavericks fans, the nudge was the reason Washington could not go up high to finish the slam.

Had Dallas’ forward made the basket, the Mavs would have been trailing by just 103-101 with about 50 seconds remaining. The dunk would have also given the momentum to Dallas as it would have completed a 9-0 run. Instead, the block ended the rally before Brown’s layup made it 105-98.

Joe Mazzula had a big reason to call White’s play “sick.”

Joe Mazzulla’s defense has held up well in the NBA Finals

Joe Mazzulla’s offense has been getting all the credit for the Boston Celtics’ impressive season. They had the most efficient offense in NBA history and regularly overwhelmed opponents with their shotmaking, particularly from behind the arc.

The championship round, though, has emphasized how the Celtics defense has been overlooked. In Game 1, they controlled the Dallas Mavericks’ elite rim threat by foiling Luka Doncic’s lobs to his big men. “Luka Legend” finished with one assist, the worst in his playoff career.

Doncic got himself going early in the first half, making Boston’s defense look inept with 23 points. He went wherever he wanted to go and even talked trash to Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck after scoring over Derrick White.

Joe Mazzulla didn’t panic and trusted his players to answer the bell when needed. The coach was right as the Celtics limited the All-NBA guard to nine second-half points. Doncic was 1-for-5 in the final frame with two turnovers.