Joe Mazzulla gives hilarious response to Jayson Tatum lashing out at refs

The Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks battled on Monday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard came to play, but Boston was ready for them. Al Horford took the lead against Antetokounmpo, and the Celtics limited what the rest of Milwaukee’s lineup was able to produce. But things got chippy.

Both sides were unhappy with the refereeing all night long. Doc Rivers was on the verge of a technical foul, Joe Mazzulla picked up a delay-of-game tech for chirping at the refs the whole night, and Jayson Tatum earned a technical foul of his own. Some of the calls were egregious, and the Celtics star was none too pleased.

But Mazzulla was fine with him getting teched up.

Joe Mazzulla loves yelling at refs just as much as Jayson Tatum

After the game, Mazzulla was asked about Tatum’s poise and the fact that he got a tech. He said that he doesn’t blame the superstar, as he enjoys the act of yelling at the referees, too.

“I think he did maintain his poise. I mean he maintained his poise from the standpoint of, he played defense, he rebounded, he guarded Brook Lopez, he ran the plays, [and] he executed them. 

“I mean, I like yelling at those guys, too. So, I'm certainly not gonna stop him from doing it. But if he stops executing our system and our defense, that's when it becomes more of an issue. But I think he kind of stayed there most of the time.”

Milwaukee did a great job of limiting Tatum for most of the night, and he ended up having his worst game of the young season.

Tatum finished the night with 15 points, eight rebounds, and four assists while shooting a brutal 6-of-16 from the floor and 1-of-8 from beyond the three-point line.

Up to this point, Tatum had been generating a rhythm from deep by stepping into open threes while opposing bigs were in drop coverage. He’s been utilizing pindown screens from Al Horford and Luke Kornet. But the Bucks took that away.

Brook Lopez guarded Tatum at the level, and Milwaukee helped over to prevent the Celtics from generating those looks. It led to a bunch of frustration and some questionable decisions from Tatum.

Despite that, he still hit the boards and played solid defense, helping Boston close out the game when they needed him to.

Through the first three games, Tatum was on fire, but the Bucks managed to pour some cold water on him on Monday. The result was a technical foul for Tatum, but not one that Mazzulla is going to complain about anytime soon.