The Celtics defeated the Magic 113-108 in their NBA regular season finale two nights ago. Boston did that even without four of their star players on the roster, while Orlando played their regular rotation of key players.
This game can be attributed to a coaching masterclass from Joe Mazzulla. Despite locking the second seed for the playoffs, the Celtics’ head coach kept up his intensity throughout the game and even got into an argument with an official with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Subsequently, a video has now leaked on social media where the details of that exchange have become clearer. The head coach was clearly unhappy with the officials’ decisions, which he felt were skewed against the Celtics’ bench.
Mazulla called a timeout to challenge a foul with just 1:37 left in the fourth quarter after the officials called a decision against Luka Garza and sent the Magic to the free-throw line.
“Introduce yourself to the end of our bench, and they can get a free throw. Introduce yourself to our other guys; they’re allowed to shoot free throws,” said Mazzulla in a passive-aggressive tone to the officials. One official, Aaron Smith, heard his comments and chose to firmly shut him down.
“Yeah, they are, and we’ve been calling them,” he responded. Mazzulla did not seem to like his response and shouted at him as the official walked away to check out the replays.
“How many free throws have they shot… How many?” Mazzulla reacted in frustration before walking away. The camera then turned to Derrick White, who was laughing while witnessing this exchange.
m a z z u l l a r e f e r e e pic.twitter.com/MESzp2ojuD
— Moe Greene (@Mooegreen24) April 14, 2026
The Celtics used only three players from their bench in this game: Dalano Banton, John Tonje, and Amari Williams. In the combined 77 minutes all three of them played on the floor, they only shot four free throws. Meanwhile, the Magic bench has 10 free-throw attempts.
As a team, the Celtics had 22 free throws made with 100% efficiency (22-22) and the Magic had 24 free throws made with 80% efficency (24-30). Mazzulla could argue that in a fixture that was eventually only a five-point win for the Celtics, this differential made the game much closer than it had to be.
In a game that was relatively meaningless to the Celtics, Mazzulla brought the intensity even from the bench. This shows his ‘no-days-off’ mentality towards the sport. Heading into the playoffs, Mazzulla’s basketball IQ, combined with his discipline, intensity, and the star power he has in Boston, makes the Celtics one of the prime contenders from the East.
They are set to face the winner of tomorrow night’s matchup between the Magic and the 76ers. It will be interesting to see Joe Mazzulla increase his intensity in the playoffs.
![Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley during the first quarter against the Brooklyn Nets at Kia Center.[Mike Watters-Imagn Images]](https://fadeawayworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Jamahl-Mosley-615x410.jpg)
