Heading into Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics had won six in a row. However, the Detroit Pistons were on a seven-game winning streak of their own. One streak had to go, and the Celtics got absolutely pummelled in a 117-97 loss.
The Celtics struggled to stop the Pistons’ offense from flowing, as Cade Cunningham dished out 11 assists and Malik Beasley poured in 26 points. Meanwhile, though Boston made a bunch of threes, they couldn’t hit their shots inside the paint. Add in turnovers and a lack of defensive rebounding, and it was a recipe for disaster for Boston.
Beasley even started dancing on the Celtics.
Joe Mazzulla says Malik Beasley earned the right to dance on the Celtics
All night long, Beasley was cooking. He was absolutely on fire, and by the time the shots started flowing, Beasley started celebrating after every shot. He was shimmying, running back on defense while celebrating, and sticking his tongue out in spite of the Celtics.
But when Joe Mazzulla was asked about it after the game, his response made a ton of sense.
“It’s the arena, and he’s earned the right to do that,” Mazzulla said via Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “If you play that way and your team is winning and you feel like you’ve earned that right to do that, that’s your choice and that’s on us for allowing him to feel that way. The only way to control that is to defend him better.”
Some players or teams would get annoyed if a player danced in their face like Beasley did, and perhaps if it happened at TD Garden, Mazzulla would have been a bit more fired up. But his reaction is completely rational.
crying at ts bro 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/6kvnZKNl7h
— nick (@nick__xo) February 27, 2025
The Celtics did not play well enough, and Beasley made them pay for it. If he plays that well, he earns the right to celebrate in any way he sees fit, especially while playing at home.
If the Celtics don’t want a player to dance around on the court, they shouldn’t allow him to score. But that didn’t happen. They lost Beasley in transition, didn’t close out quickly enough in the half-court, and let him get to the rim far too easily.
They did it to themselves.
These types of games happen every once in a while. That’s why the games have to be played. Anything can happen over the course of an 82-game regular season, and the Pistons got the better of them on Wednesday night.
And Mazzulla is absolutely correct: If a player plays well, they earn the right to celebrate.