BOSTON — A long-winded dry spell from three tanked the Boston Celtics’ lead against the New York Knicks late in Game 1. They went from being in control to battling to stay alive in a matter of minutes. The game trickled into overtime, and the Knicks maintained control. With mere seconds left, Boston found itself down two after a missed three from Josh Hart.
But rather than taking a timeout, Joe Mazzulla let his team dribble the ball up the floor and get into action themselves. Nothing happened. Mazzulla sprinted up the sidelines, trying to call a timeout, but the referees didn’t see him.
“I was at half-court, probably around eight or nine [seconds], calling it,” Mazzulla said post-game. “They didn't see it. And then, they ended up fouling, so we used it there.”
New York fouled with 3.0 seconds left in the game. It was theirs to give. Their first under two minutes. That’s when Mazzulla called the timeout.
As the Celtics’ offense fumbled prior to the Knicks’ foul (and prior to Mazzulla’s frantic attempt to call a timeout), the game looked as though it was slipping away. The obvious thought process is that a timeout would have calmed them down. It could have given the Celtics time to think through their play.
Joe Mazzulla's timeout philosophy wanted to give Celtics bad Knicks defenders to attack
Though Mazzulla eventually tried to call it, his philosophy in the moment holds true. And the most recent example was just five in-game minutes in the past.
“In regulation, when you call it, they're taking both [Karl-Anthony] Towns and [Jalen] Brunson out of the game,” Mazzulla said. “And so I think I felt like we had speed. To be able to get something with two left. You can go get a layup with one of those two guys on the floor. That would give us a chance to extend the game.”
When Boston found themselves in a similar position at the end of regulation—tied at 100-100 with a chance to take the lead—they called a timeout. Twice.
The first was with 10 seconds remaining. New York subbed out Brunson and Towns for Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride. The second was with 0.5 seconds left, after Brunson missed a potential game-winning floater. Once again, Tom Thibodeau took out Brunson and Towns.
Boston had been attacking both Knicks stars all night, Towns with Tatum on the perimeter and Brunson with Brown in the post. In regulation, they were taken out for the Celtics’ potential game-winning offensive possession. In overtime, Mazzulla wanted them off the floor: “Just a feel thing of knowing that, when you call it, they're going to go to their defensive lineup, and can we get something quick in transition?”
After the Knicks intentionally fouled Brown with three seconds left in overtime, they did exactly what they did in regulation. Robinson and McBride checked in for Towns and Brunson.
Derrick White inbounded the ball across the court to Brown. Boston knew the Knicks were going to intentionally foul, as they were up by three, but before Brown had a chance to get a shot up, Mikal Bridges swiped down and forced a turnover. Game over.
“Yeah, just a read,” Mazzulla said of the play. “Jaylen's great in space. You know they're going to foul in that situation, so it's got to be catch-and-shoot. So, just to read to try to create space, get a quick catch-and-shoot for Jaylen. We've run that play a few times. I he was able to get some good separation [with it], but Bridges made a good play.”