Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff played reporters in a pickup game. It went as expected

BOSTON AP Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants to win no matter the opponent Even when playing against reporters Here s what happened The Celtics had stated their reporters that they could use the Auerbach Center courts for a media tournament after practice on Tuesday But Mazzulla had a surprise planned as well You re not playing against each other Mazzulla recounted the group You re playing against the coaches With that he walked away from the post-practice media scrum Tournament on Well sort of Final count Celtics coaches Celtics media And yes the coaches were still shooting deep -pointers as time expired Mazzulla literally fist-pumped after the final basket There was no running out the final seconds of a lopsided match as would typically be the affair in an NBA contest I know Joe craved to keep us scoreless Boston com s Khari A Thompson good-naturedly posted on X after the tournament It should be noted that Thompson was responsible for one of the two baskets by the reporters In fairness the Celtics coaches who played Tuesday were no slouches Amile Jefferson won a national championship at Duke Mazzulla and Da Sean Butler played in the Final Four with West Virginia Phil Pressey scored four or more points times in his NBA playing career The media contingent surely knew it had no chance The coaches ended the championship on a - run which sort of doesn t matter considering they also started the meeting on a - run The sheer gap in athleticism speed size instincts you name it felt so insurmountable that I can hardly pinpoint what even went down Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell wrote after the contest I d love to take a look at a box points but the amount of live-ball turnovers we accrued would likely make me sick Mazzulla to his credit stuck around for the real media contest afterward Final points there -